Dreamless Days
by Swirlee
Summary: Sequel to New Game. Feeling confused about her sudden appearance, Aura sets forth on an adventure with Sora and Riku as she finds the answers shes looking for. Along the way, however, she meets a girl identical to Marie and a woman bent on preventing the Mark of Mastery. Will Aura be able to figure everything out and stop the woman from doing so? Time will tell.
1. The Dream Continues

Well, this is it! We're finally at that point where a new story begins.

This is an Aura exclusive story, much like Nameless Days, but with more oomph than that story. I royally screwed up that story since I was so annoyed with the game being so boring and such, but this game sounds and is so interesting, and it has TWEWY!

* * *

**Chapter One**

**ȶ**

**The Dream Continues**

Her eyes slowly fluttered opened as she took in what was around her, which seemed all orange. She couldn't quite move her limbs and felt as if they were paralyzed or something, which caused her to panic for a bit. She twitched her arm and sighed in relief when she could move it, and did the same for her other limbs. Once she was kicking up her legs and punching the air, she decided to get up halfway. She sat and examined her surroundings—she was in a place with plenty of star designs all over, like a hallway, and she wondered who could like stars so much. She looked down at her legs and noticed she was wearing the same outfit—the usual blue strapless top attached to the baby blue hoodie and the brown belt with the black leggings. She looked down and noticed the band on her right arm, and then at the black gloves she had on.

She rubbed her eyes and noticed the complexion of her skin, it was tanned, and when her hand reached down towards her hair she looked down and noticed it was brown. It reached a bit past the bottom of her neck, with some strands standing out straightly. She felt her bangs sweep towards the left side of her face, and jerked her head in that direction to push the bangs away from her eyes. She decided to get up and noticed the black and blue high tops shoes she was wearing, and moved her feet around to look at them further. She scratched her head again, but this time noticed something was off—she remembered wearing a blue tuque most of the time, so where did it go?

She sighed and looked down towards the floor, but something bright and blue caught her attention—a small pouch attached to the brown belt she wore. She went to touch it, but the moment she did her head began to spin. A flood of memories sprawled all over in her brain and she started remembering all that had happened before she got here.

"Marie?" she called out. She looked around but no one answered. She lowered her eyes a bit and tried calling out to anyone else, "Roxas? Riku? …Sora?"

"And who might you be?" the girl quickly turned around and tried calling forth her Keyblade, but when nothing appeared, she quickly gasped. The man before her, a wise old man with a blue coned hat and robes, stroked his long grey beard as he examined the girl. She matched the description of the girl the king talked about while he fought Xemnas at The World That Never Was, and wondered what she was doing here. "State your name, young one."

She hesitated a bit and wondered if she should answer him or not, but since she didn't have her weapon with her, she lowered her guard and stared straight into the old man's eyes. "The name's Aura," she said.

"How strange, you are the Nobody of Marie, yet you are here and not in her heart," he replied. True, it was odd for Aura to be out and seen when she had merged with Marie while they were still at Organization XIII's hideout, but she really wasn't complaining. The old man closed his eyes for a moment, and decided to explain where she was. "I am Yen Sid, and you are at the Mysterious Tower."

"Mysterious Tower? Yen Sid?" Aura questioned. She placed a finger on her lips and started thinking about the man—she knew him as King Mickey's teacher, the man who taught him how to use the Keyblade. She narrowed her eyes towards the man, and wondered if he could help her about her problem. "Well, then, Yen Sid… you clearly have knowledge of the Keyblade if you were the King's teacher. I need to know why _I _can't wield _my_ Keyblade."

Yen Sid wondered about it, he knew that if she is or was the Nobody of Marie, then she could wield the Keyblade. However, seeing as she was seen clear as day, it could prove that she _wasn't_ a Nobody. He looked at her. "I want you to close your eyes."

She raised her eyebrow at him, but decided to listen anyways. She closed her eyes and sighed, and Yen Sid instructed her to listen. She followed his word, but nothing was happening. She sighed. "I don't understand why this—"

She stopped talking and gasped lightly—a heartbeat. The sound reverberated through her body, but she didn't understand. She was a Nobody, they weren't supposed to have hearts. She lifted her right hand and placed it over her chest, and she felt her heart beating. _Her own heart_…

"Do you feel the beating of your heart?" he asked. She quickly nodded, and asked what was going on. He didn't really understand it much, but at least he could answer her question about her Keyblade. "Since you possess a heart, it means you are no longer a Nobody, and you are no longer Marie's Nobody. With that being said, your ability to wield the Keyblade has been taken away for it was an ability you had _because_ of Marie."

"So what? Can I not fight anymore?" she asked as she was starting to get defensive. The old man stroked his beard once more, and looked out the window and stared at the starry night.

"Perhaps you will be of great importance," he said as he continued to stare out into the sky. She tilted her head in confusion, and Yen Sid turned around with a rather serious look on his face. "Of course, it all depends on you. Will you allow me to help you?"

Aura stared and blinked a couple of times at his willing to help, but shrugged her shoulders and nodded at him. If she couldn't wield the Keyblade she was in trouble—who knew what evil could lurk now that Xemnas was gone.

**- Present Time - **

Ryan stared at the ceiling as he lay on his bed at home. He had returned from the doctors earlier after hearing the good news that his anemia was gone, and the doctor seemed wildly confused as to how it disappeared, but only Ryan knew. The same thing that happened to Riku back at Organization XIII's world happened to him, except it just took his sickness away rather than change his appearance.

He sighed for the umpteenth time; it had been a week since Sora, Riku and Marie left. It was weird—no one got a break, and he wanted to be out there rather than inside lying on his bed. When he first came home, all he could think of was sleeping in and just lounging around like he used to, but now he wanted to fight. He wanted to be beside Sora, Riku and Marie as they set out on different kinds of journeys.

He played with the brown buckles from his vest and sighed again, his parents had bought him a new outfit and he decided to wear it. He wore an orange, short-sleeved polo shirt with a blue vest over it. His jeans were bordering from grey to black, and he wore simple blue canvas shoes. He wasn't wearing his lucky hat anymore, since it shrunk in the wash, and he was forced to leave it behind. Because of that, he got a haircut that made his hair shorter, but he liked the style since his bangs were swooped to the left. He sighed. The only thing that brought Ryan out of his boring days was Kairi, who came to visit as frequent as she could. He turned in his bed and thought about the redhead. She stayed behind because she had to, it was just directed at Sora, Riku and Marie, but since the blonde was nowhere in sight, they had to make with what they had. He closed his eyes and relieved that day.

_"So, you two are going to help out the king?" Ryan asked looking at the two teens were more than set to leave. Sora nodded as he took a quick glance at him, and Ryan stood firmly on his toes. "Then I'm coming along. Now that I can fight, I can actually help you guys."_

_"No. stay here," Riku told him. Ryan was about to retort, but was interrupted as both the silver head and Sora looked at him. "It's not like we're rejecting you, Ryan. Right now, anything can happen and we know you're the closest who can help if anything __does__ happen to this world. Aside from Kairi, of course."_

_"Kairi has more of a chance protecting this place than me," Ryan replied, trying to reason with Riku. "Plus, if I go with you guys I can train and get strong."_

_"Yeah, but Ryan, we really need you to stay," Sora told him. Ryan wasn't getting it but Sora gave the boy a smile as he patted his shoulder. "Trust us; you need to stay, because we want you to promise something to us."_

_"And that would be?"_

_"To protect Kairi," Riku said as he stared straight into Ryan's eyes. The brunette wasn't sure how he could protect her, or why he needed to if she had her own personal Keyblade. "Even if she can fight with the Keyblade, she's a princess of light. There's no telling who will come by and take that light."_

_Ryan was already informed about the events that happened between Sora, Marie, Riku and Kairi, and at first he couldn't believe she was an actual princess. He thought back on Marie, and how she had the powers of Kingdom Hearts, who would protect her? He passed this by Riku and Sora, with the latter tensing up at her name. He was still emotional about her leaving but he knew she couldn't leave it alone, and she was always in his heart. _

_"We don't know where Marie is, but unlike Kairi, she's had experience with the Keyblade," Riku told him. He was right, the girl knew how to fight with her Keyblade, but he still wanted to help. Riku just shook his head. "We're going to find her, don't worry. In the meantime, just keep an eye on her, okay?"_

_"…Alright." Ryan hung his head low, but received a couple of pats from Sora and Riku before they headed off. _

"Ryan honey, your girlfriend is here to see you," Leah called out to her son. Ryan furrowed his eyebrows together at the word 'girlfriend'. His mother had been bothering him about Kairi for a while since she came to visit a lot, but he would ignore her or tell her that they were just friends. Leah thought otherwise, Kairi seemed genuinely happy to see Ryan, unlike Selphie who didn't visit at all since his return. His expression turned into a frown at the thought of Selphie, who was talking a lot to a boy in her classes. Tidus and Wakka came to visit a lot, and Ryan filled them in on his adventure with Sora, Riku and Marie. He showed them the group picture of him and everyone else that came back that day, and the boys started remembering more of her. Of course, they were more interested in the fact that she and Sora were dating—they totally thought it would be Riku.

"Thanks mom, but she's not my girlfriend… we're just friends." He got up from his bed and fixed himself before walking downstairs. He saw the redhead sitting on the stool, all prepped in her pink dress, staring at the small television attached to the wall of the kitchen. As soon as he reached the last step of the stairs, the floor creaked, and Kairi turned and smiled brightly at the boy.

"Hey," she said as she got up from the stool. She fixed the end of her skirt and stood patiently as Ryan walked towards her.

"So, what brings you here today?" he asked as he smiled back. She shrugged her shoulders and pointed towards the entrance.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" she smiled. He shrugged his shoulders in return and nodded. They both walked out of his house and started making their way down the road, but he turned his head and noticed something odd about his aunt and uncle's house. He squinted his eyes and noticed the lights were on, which were off when Marie left, and wondered who was inside. Kairi took notice and looked at the house before looking back at Ryan. "Do you think someone is inside?"

"There's a possibility of that," he replied. He took a stance as he started walking towards the house, with Kairi following not too far behind. Once they reached the door, a bright light appeared through the windows followed by a crash. Kairi jumped a bit from the sudden noise, but Ryan turned to her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, but… what if someone is in there?" she asked. Ryan narrowed his eyes back to the house, and then back at Kairi.

"Then we'll just have to fight," he said. Kairi wasn't too keen on the idea, since fighting wasn't her strongest point. She was still getting over the fact that she wielded a Keyblade and actually _fought_, but it was more or less adrenaline and the will to protect that took over. Ryan noticed this and sighed as his expression softened in front of her. "You can leave the fighting to me—I know a thing or two. Besides… I made a promise to them, so…. Don't worry. I'll protect you."

Kairi looked at Ryan for a bit, and her frown turned into a smile as she nodded at him. He turned around again and they both slowly walked near the door until his hand reached the doorknob. He dug into his pocket and reached for the spare key that Marie left behind, and slowly inserted it into the keyhole. He quickly opened the door once it was unlocked and rushed inside, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He called Kairi over and she walked inside, looking around as well. They both froze when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and Ryan placed a protective arm in front of Kairi. The footsteps grew louder and louder, until they saw a pair of black boots.

As the boots showed, so did a pair of black pants, and finally a white coat that flowed down just past the person's behind. Ryan looked up and saw a woman with golden blonde hair and honey brown eyes staring at the both of them. She seemed hurt and had a couple of scratches on her shoulders and face, but she didn't seem too bothered by them. Ryan had to take a second look before he knew who the woman was, and he gasped when he figured it out.

"Stella!?"

**-x-**

Marie sighed as she typed in a few words on the computer in Ansem's secret computer room. She had been busy day and night trying to find as much information as possible on anything that could help her locate her parents, and she found a lot of information on Organization XIII and their originals—not that she didn't anything about them already. Yuffie and Aerith would come in every once in a while to keep her company, and she really appreciated the kind gesture. She changed in appearance as well. Her blonde hair was wavier than before, and her once loose straight bangs shifted all the way to the left side of her face. She had layers at the front and the back was pretty long—reaching past her shoulders. She wore a sweater that were two hues of green and had a pink heart as the zipper. The sleeves and hoodies were a dark shade, while the body of it was a lighter shade. She had her sleeves rolled up too, since they often hit against her purple bracelets. She wore a simple pink skirt with white leggings, and the left leg of her leggings had flower prints trailing down to her brown boots. The boots only reached to her calves.

"Find anything else?" Leon said as he leaned on the computer's left side. She shook her head, and told him that all she found was stuff that she had already known. She lowered her eyes at her slow progress, but she was determined to find _something_ so that she could start on her adventure already.

"I still can't believe your mother and father were in Kingdom Hearts!" Yuffie exclaimed as she jumped from the chair she was sitting on. Marie shrugged her shoulders, and told them that she was just as surprised. She really wanted to find them and bring them home, maybe then would she feel really complete. There was no doubt that the last adventure almost broke her—what with everything happening at once, and she was almost certain she lost a piece of herself along the way, but maybe setting on this journey would help her. She gained the powers from Kingdom Hearts, and along with her own genuine powers, she was going to be the best she could.

"I've got to do all that I can so that Kingdom Hearts will never have to be threatened again," she said as she stopped typing into the computer. She heard a jingle coming from her neck, and looked down as she touched the necklace that Sora gave her. She really missed him, more than anything in the worlds, but she had to do this. She wondered what he, along with Riku, Kairi and Ryan, were doing back at the islands.

"You'll have to train to keep up," Leon said. She turned to him and nodded, knowing full well that she had to work hard at her Keyblade skills in order to start protecting Kingdom Hearts.

"And train you will!" Marie, Yuffie and Leon all turned as they saw Merlin walking into the room. He walked as he fixed his glasses and smiled at the three of them. He asked Yuffie and Leon if he could talk with the blonde alone, and they nodded as they left the room. Marie tilted her head in confusion, and asked the wizard what he talking about. He cleared his throat. "You are a Keyblade wielder, but it's now time to take it one step further—by becoming a Keyblade master."

"A Keyblade master? That's… what my grandmother was," Marie said as she took out her Keyblade. Merlin nodded his head and agreed.

"Yes, and since you said your mother wielded a Keyblade, she could very well be a Keyblade master too," Merlin stated. Marie wondered about it, if both her mother and grandmother were masters of the Keyblade, would she have the requirements to be one, too? Merlin nodded. "It's clear your family has a lineage of Keyblade wielders, so it is only natural that you would become one too."

"But why now? What's going on?" she asked.

"You are familiar with the wizard Yen Sid, correct?" Merlin asked as Marie nodded. "He has informed me that since Xehanort's Heartless and Nobody have been defeated, he will soon be brought back."

"Xehanort being brought back? But that can't be…" Marie said as she stared at Merlin with wide eyes. He unfortunately had to agree with the man coming back, but told Marie that she really needed to become a Keyblade master because of it.

"Yen Sid has already started the examination with Sora and Riku," he told her. Marie gasped at this, so Sora and Riku weren't at the islands anymore. She lowered her head again.

"So I should go to Yen Sid, then? To become a Keyblade master, right?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, you cannot start the exam since he has already administered it to Sora and Riku first, and it cannot be interrupted until it is completed," he told her. She had a frown on her face, and Merlin noticed. He quickly cleared his throat and continued. "However, he has asked me to personally train you so that you would be ready to take the exam once Sora and Riku are done."

"How will I be training though? There aren't any monsters here anymore," she asked. Merlin explained that he would be training her by magically suppressing her training sessions, since she had to learn how to how to fight with a clean slate.

"Whaaaaat!? I have to re-learn how to fight with the Keyblade!? Like the first time wasn't hard enough!" she whined. Merlin chuckled, but assured her that she would do fine. He had confidence in her prowess, especially gaining new ones from Kingdom Hearts, and the fact that her lineage consisted of Keyblade wielders.

Marie sighed and looked at her Keyblade; she really hoped Sora and Riku would pass the exam. She wanted to pass it too, so that they could all be Keyblade masters and keep fighting side-by-side.

* * *

Ahh, we're done with the first chapter of **Dreamless Days! **It's completely fun knowing I get to write about new worlds and new characters, and I know it'll be a great story! I even get to write about Tron: Legacy!

Well, aside from that, we learned that Stella is back at the islands. I wonder if she'll stay or look for Marie. What about Dante or Trinity? Well, you'll hear about them soon enough.

Marie gets to train to become a Keyblade master! How exciting! I wonder if she'll ever meet up with Sora or Riku. Heck, I wonder if she'll find out that Aura is still around.

Speaking of Aura… She's ready to jump back into the spotlight and kick some baddie butts! Question is… will you handle her newborn self? Keep reading and see…

**Ryan's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d700342

**Stella's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6z5prr

**Marie's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6ztad8

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**Dracula X:  
**Hey, _thank you_! I love it when people ask me these kinds of questions because I can get real creative with my OCs. I feel like I did a pretty good job with the voices except for maybe Aura's. I might change hers and if I do I'll let you know.

Haha, nope! She decides to find out about her parents and Trinity, but since we know where Stella is, the question now is the whereabouts of Dante and Trinity.

**Grapejuice101:  
**I know I'm sad that it had to end, but now we're starting with a new story! I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I'll write it. Hmm, I don't know if he will, he might be overwhelmed about Aura… but who can say? ;)

**Shadow 1n2:  
**Aww, yeah I was reminded of the game when I played way back when, it's so emotional. D: I know you did and I'm honestly so happy you stuck with this series :D yes, I do hope we move on to something greater!

I have a lot planned for each of my characters, and I hope it comes out as awesome as it is in my head and on paper. We get to see a different, but still bad-ass, Aura take the light and fight! Who knows if she'll see Roxas during her adventure, but she'll have a lot of fun either way.

I remember Demyx Time! I'm so sad that it ended! Haha, yea I remember you telling me about some of the episodes. Good times ;^;

Oh my gosh, yes! I love Thor and Loki so much its ridiculous haha. Yeah, I wonder who they'll end up picking. It better be someone as awesome as Robert or I'll be mad!


	2. The Dream World

**Aura's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6zt7ll

**Aura's weapon; Harmonic Wave:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6crpql

**A/N:  
**Second chapter! Let's keep the awesomeness going~!

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**Chapter Two**

**ȶ**

**The Dream World**

Aura tapped her foot on the ground and looked at the weapon before her; it was a giant scythe that closely resembled her Keyblade, Order, in color scheme. The blade was golden while it had a crown with a ruby jewel at the back of said blade, and a red and yellow heart imprint was on it. There were also rubies on the blade, while pearls trailed down from the blade towards the center of the scythe. There was also a ribbon on it.

"This scythe, named Harmonic Wave, was created using your innermost feelings. It is a weapon much like the Keyblade, but does not actually function as one," Yen Sid explained. She narrowed her eyes and wondered why she was thinking of _death_, but she let the old man continue. "With it came a variety of skills and abilities, and it will prove to be your most valued weapon. No other will compare."

She looked at it closely, and wondered how heavy the thing was. "How will I carry it around? It looks heavy, and I'm not exactly _thrilled_ at the thought of carrying a heavy weapon around."

"Its weight will be of no concern, it is part of the abilities included," he said. He explained about the scythe in detail. It connected with her feelings or emotions, and an ability that came with it was the weight. Aura would be able to wield it as if she was holding a basic sword, and wouldn't destroy her back trying to carry it. It acted very much like a Keyblade, in the sense that it appeared once she willed for it. It also turned into a dual-scythe, having blades at both ends to create double the damage. She didn't hate the scythe as much, but she wondered about the other skills and abilities.

"All of the skills and abilities will be learned as you fight with it," he explained. She looked around and wondered where she would be fighting, but Yen Sid brought his hand up and explained it. "To put it simply, I am sending you into the dream world to oversee Sora and Riku as they complete their Mark of Mastery."

"Riku and Sora are here, too?" she asked. He nodded, and explained the ordeal that they were all facing concerning Xehanort. Aura's eyes widened and balled her fists. "Then shouldn't I be training too? I'm pretty certain I'll be fighting with those guys."

"All in due time, my dear," he said. "I have other tasks for you to do while you are in the dream world. There seems to be disturbances that I would like you to check out, and I want you to make sure they do not interfere with Sora and Riku's exam."

She asked what their exam was for, and he explained it was to become a Keyblade master. She lowered her eyes at that—she could've became a Keyblade master, but only if she was still a Nobody. She shook her head; she was glad that she had a heart, something that she had wanted from the start. She wasn't going to let the Keyblade change her mind. She turned back towards the scythe, which was floating inside a magical sphere, and walked over to it. She grabbed the handle and the sphere left, feeling the slight weight of the weapon. Yen Sid was right when he said it would weigh pretty much like a sword, and she swung it around for good measure. It felt a bit weird, but it was something that she would have to get used to.

Yen Sid walked into the other room and she followed him close behind. They reached his personal office, and she saw Donald, Goofy and the king. They turned and gasped when they saw her, but she retained her cool.

"Aura, what are you doing here?" Donald asked. She crossed her arms and looked at the small duck.

"That's something I'd like to know too, but apparently here I am," she told him. Yen Sid walked over to them and explained how Aura gained a heart of her own, and they all gasped. Mickey asked how it was possible, but that was something no one knew.

"I am sure you will find the answers soon, but for now, I will send you to the dream world," Yen Sid said. Goofy asked why she was going, and the wizard explained her role. Mickey was glad that Aura would be helping Sora and Riku, but he was still curious about her being reborn as a whole being. Aura turned to Yen Sid, and gave him the go to do his magic. She closed her eyes, and the next thing she knew she was falling asleep.

**-x-**

Aura opened her eyes after a few moments, and she yawned when she did. She stretched her limbs a bit but was completely surprised as she looked down—her whole outfit had changed. She wore a black tank top covered by a white vest with blue rims around it, the zipper dangled opened right below her chest. She wore a brown belt with a golden buckle and three peals on it, and she wore blue capris with buckles by the end of them. She noticed her pouch was still attached to her belt and noticed the black fingerless gloves she wore. She looked down and noticed the white running shoes she was wearing, with blue Velcro pads that tied the shoes. She felt a choker around her neck, which was black, but the one thing that she didn't notice was a hat. She growled, since she was so used to wearing hats that it was starting to annoy her if she didn't have one on.

"Well, first things first, time to steal a hat," she said aloud. She looked around, and noticed the place felt familiar—it was in Marie's memories. Traverse Town. That was the name of the place she was in. she scratched her head, how did she retain most of Marie's memories if she was no longer her Nobody? She sighed, she hoped she would find an answer soon enough.

She placed her hands on her hips and started walking around the place to look for _anyone_ with a hat, but she couldn't find a _single_ soul in the damn place. She stopped and sighed, but then all of a sudden, a couple of creatures surrounded her. She stood on her guard and looked at them… they were cat-like and bat-like creatures, and she questioned if they were even bad, but one of them started running towards her. She quickly jumped out of the way and was glad at the fact that her reflexes remained with her. She stood firmly on the ground, and summoned her scythe. It appeared right in her hands, just like Yen Sid said it would, and she clutched it as she looked at the creatures. If it was anything like the Keyblade, then fighting with it would come naturally, right? She took a deep breath.

"Hya!" she shouted as she swung it around. She stumbled just a bit due to its length, but that was something she could easily fix by training. She managed to get rid of the cat-like creature, and all that remained was the bat. She swung it above her head before swinging it at the bat, and it quickly disappeared right after it screeched in pain. She lowered the weapon and looked at it, it wasn't as bad as she thought, and she was excited to figure out the abilities that came with it. She looked back to where the creatures were, and closed her eyes as she tried to remember what Yen Sid.

_"You will encounter creatures called 'Dream Eaters', and there are two kinds, one of them are good creatures that may aid you. The others are nightmares that devour happy dreams. These ones you must eliminate should you encounter them."_

She must have fought with the bad Dream Eaters, but it seemed pretty obvious, since the creatures themselves looked pretty malicious. Yen Sid mentioned the good Dream Eaters were called 'spirits', but she wasn't sure about the whole thing. Couldn't it be just like the Heartless where they were _all_ bad? She really didn't want to fight off a Dream Eater and find out later on that it was actually good. She shrugged her shoulders and started walking further into the town. She noticed a boy with a black beanie, but when she took a closer look it had a white skull on it, and she scrunched up her face in dislike. _I hate hats with designs…_

She stopped in her tracks and walked the opposite way, was that boy the only one in the town? Surely there had to be more people wondering around. She stopped when she heard the noises from the Dream Eaters, and looked around to see a couple of them surrounding a smaller one. She quietly made her way behind one of the buildings and started watching as they started beating up the smaller Dream Eater. The creature had a different color scheme than the rest of them, and she wondered if the Nightmares were bullying a small Spirit. She walked out and brought out her scythe, and when the Dream Eaters noticed, they turned and started stalking their way towards Aura. She stood her ground again and swung her scythe directly at them, successfully eliminating half of them. She turned to the other half and started running towards them as she brought the scythe over her shoulder, and once she was close enough, swung it around and sliced them all in half.

She sighed as she stood straight and willed her weapon away, and looked towards the good Dream Eater as it tried getting up. She frowned and walked over to it, and it didn't look really good. She bent down and watched it breath heavily, and she felt pretty bad for it. She brought her right hand to her chest and wondered what to do. Maybe that boy with the hat would be able to help her, but she wondered if he would freak out and run away. She sighed and closed her eyes. She thought for a moment, and she opened her eyes as she looked back down to the creature. She remembered how she had a healing spell, but again, wondered if it would work. There was no harm in trying, right?

She slowly brought her hand down towards the thing, and closed her eyes as she began to concentrate. She really hoped it would work. She concentrated for a moment longer, and suddenly, a blue smoke appeared around the creature. A light sparkled right after, and when she opened her eyes she pulled her hand away. She watched as the Dream Eater slowly got up, and when it started bouncing, she smiled. She brought her hand up to her lips—it felt weird smiling. She shook her head and got up, and right when she was leaving, the little Dream Eater started bouncing towards her.

"Meeee!" it squeaked. She turned and raised her eyebrow in confusion. She bent down again as she walked towards it, and placed her hands on her knees.

"You okay?" she asked, feeling weird that she was even talking to a creature such as this one. She took a closer too at it—it had long ears with something similar to a paw at the ends. It had a small spike on its head, a half green circle on its cheeks, and a yellow and pink collar. Its body was primarily yellow. The thing practically looked like a bunny.

"Meeeeeee~!" it squeaked again. She shrugged her shoulders, got up, and started walking away, but the thing came jumping all the way up to her shoulder. She flinched a bit, but composed herself as she turned her head towards the thing.

"Look, I get that I saved your life, but buzz off," she told it. Instead, it started snuggling its cheek against hers, and she lowered her eyes. She crossed her arms and sighed. "You're starting to get on my nerves, you annoying little sh—"

"Mee!" it squeaked once more. She face palmed and sighed even longer. There was no getting out of this mess, and she almost regretted saving the damn thing, but she figured the extra help wouldn't be so bad.

"Fine, you can stay," she retorted. She crossed her arms again and the thing landed right in between her arms. It looked up at her with the silliest expression on its face, and she sighed. "So, what should we name you?"

"Meemee!" it piped. Aura tilted her head and recalled the word in her head. She thought for a moment as she stared into the street, and then looked back at the thing.

"Mimi?" she asked. The thing bounced happily, and Aura shrugged her shoulders. She guessed it was a girl, then. Mimi bounced back on Aura's shoulder and planted herself quite comfortably, and Aura just sighed again. "Alright then Mimi, let's go look for a hat."

They walked around for a bit but Aura couldn't find anyone else in the premises. She was beginning to wonder if there were people to begin with, and she was getting annoyed at not having a hat. She stopped walking and stood still as Mimi kept squeaking, and they both looked ahead as they saw a girl walking around the place. Aura's eyes widened when she took a closer look at the girl. She had a pale complexion with rosy cheeks and plumped coral lips, and her hair was cut short and brown with a purple crescent moon and yellow star clip on it. She wore a black undershirt with a sleeveless blue cardigan, and a purple belt with a star design in the middle held it all together. She had a blue and white bracelet on her left wrist, and a simple blue one on the other. She also had a black choker with a purple star hanging from it. She wore a grey jean skirt with white leggings, and a pair of ballet flats.

Out of all of that, Aura noticed that the girl looked _identical_ to Marie. She wondered what was going, and figured if it had anything to do with Sora or Riku being in the dream world. Was it actually Marie herself? Aura shook her head and started running towards the girl.

"Marie!" she called out. The girl turned and gasped softly, but stood in a defensive stance and glared at Aura. Once she was close enough to the unknown girl, she stood straight and stared her down. "Marie, what are you doing here? What's up with your hair?"

"I don't know who you are, but if you come any closer I'll hurt you!" she retorted. She kept glaring at Aura and wondered what was going on.

"Marie, it's me—Aura! Don't you remember me?" she asked.

"I don't know anyone with the name Aura, but I'm warning you! Any closer and I'll hit!" she shouted. Aura stared at her and observed her stance. It was a strong stance and the girl before her looked determined to attack at any moment. Aura crossed her arms and the girl narrowed her eyes even further. "And it's _not_ Marie! No one calls me that anymore!"

"Oh? So than what _is_ your name?" Aura asked. The girl stiffened and brought her hands closer to her body. Aura noticed, and wondered if she was actually telling the truth about not remembering her. She noticed the girl wasn't answering her, and decided to play good cop. "Look, I'm sorry. You just look like a friend of mine named Marie. I thought you were her."

The girl lowered her defense and slowly brought down her hands. When they reached her sides she took a deep breath and stared back at Aura. "Well, my name _is_ Marie, but I don't like it, so I tell people to call me Mai," she said.

"Mai? That's interesting, how'd you make it up?" Aura asked. The girl told her that she basically took out the R and E of her original name and created Mai. Aura chuckled. "So, Mai, what are you doing here?"

"I live here," she giggled. Aura raised an eyebrow in confusion but decided to go along with it. Mai told her that she had been living in Traverse Town her whole life, but Aura grew even more confused. She placed a finger on her chin and decided to ask a couple of questions.

"Mai, do you know two boys named Sora and Riku? I'm trying to find them," she asked. Mai simply shook her head, saying that she had never met the boys, and Aura was starting to wonder about this girl. How was it that she forgot almost everything? She kept asking questions about Marie's life, but the girl simply did not know. She started playing with Mimi, and asked for her name, to which Aura told her. Mimi grew comfortable with the girl, and Aura wondered what could be different about the girl from Marie. She didn't know what to do—she couldn't bring Mai back without hurting her, and she wasn't willing to do that. Maybe she had to get on her good side?

"Mimi's so cute! Where'd you get her?" she asked. Aura looked at her, and then around the place.

"I got her from here, they're all wondering around. I'm surprised we haven't got attacked by one yet," Aura told her. Mai blinked a couple of times and looked at Aura with a confused face.

"I've never seen them around… are they dangerous?" Aura agreed, and Mai smiled with bright eyes. The girl brought her hands together as Mimi jumped on her shoulder. Just then, a couple of Dream Eaters appeared, and Aura cursed, speak of the devil! She brought a protective hand in front of Mai, and Mimi jumped from her shoulder to Aura's. Mai didn't do anything but watch Aura as she took out a giant scythe from nowhere and started fighting off the monsters, and Mimi jumped from her shoulder and started spinning around, fighting off some of the smaller monsters. Aura spun her scythe around and attacked the bigger Dream Eaters, and Mimi bounced around as she attacked the others with her ears. Once they were done, Aura smirked and let Mimi jump back on her shoulder.

"Nice job!" she complimented Mimi as she high-fived her paw-like ear. Mai squealed and started jumping around Aura and her friend.

"That was so amazing!" she exclaimed. She stopped jumping and smiled at Aura with wide eyes. She had never seen something as wicked as what Aura did, and she wanted to know how to join in the fun. "Where'd you get that weapon? How do you fight so well? Can I fight with you?"

Aura backed away slightly as she tried taking in the overwhelming questions. She was surprised at how Mai was as interested in something as a little fight—maybe she _wasn't_ actually Marie? The one she knew hated fighting. She stood still and placed her hands on her hips as she looked at Mai.

"I wouldn't mind if you came along," she told her. Mai jumped for joy and told her that they needed to go as soon as possible, since she always wanted to go on an adventure. Aura scratched her head, and realized her hat dilemma. "Well, right now I need to find a hat. I can't stand being hatless."

"Oh, I have one! I took it from this kid who was bugging me, and it served him right!" Mai replied while Aura raised her eyebrow. She reached into her skirt pocket and Aura just noticed the bulge from it. She pulled out a dark blue beanie, and Aura examined it. It had no designs on it, and it looked pretty nice. She took it from Mai and placed it on her head, liking how it felt. She closed her eyes for a moment, and then smirked at Mai.

"It passes," she said, which Mai was happy about. She jumped a bit from the excitement of going out, and Aura crossed her arms. "Alright, let's go. Stay close to me though, who knows what's out there."

"Pfft, I can take care of myself you know! I'm not a coward!" Mai retorted as she gave a snort. Aura raised her eyebrow, this girl was definitely courageous. She nodded her head either way, and started walking ahead. When she started walking, however, she stopped hearing Mai's footsteps. She turned around, and couldn't find the girl anywhere in sight. She raised her eyebrow in confusion and looked around.

"Mai, where are you?" she shouted. She kept looking around, and groaned at the thought of her missing. Maybe she started running in the opposite direction? Aura sighed, and started walking that way.

* * *

We are done with chapter two, and I gotta say, I really love the fact that you can use cute little animals as allies. I think the Me Me Bunny suits Aura quite well.

Also, who is this Mai character? She looks and talks like Marie, but she has no clue who Marie even is. I wonder how she'll act with Sora and Riku. Just keep reading!

**Mai's look**:  
www**.**fav**.**me/d6zubpc


	3. Be my grumpy knight

**Aura's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6zt7ll

**Aura's weapon; Harmonic Wave:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6crpql

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**ȶ**

**Be my grumpy knight**

Aura walked around as she continued to look for Mai, and it was near impossible to find the girl. She was grateful that she gave her a hat she liked, and she wanted to return the favor by allowing her to travel with her. Of course, she wanted Mai to come along so that she could possibly bring her to the real world too, since maybe Yen Sid would have a clue as to what was going on. She kept walking down the street as she looked around, and Mimi started squeaking and pointed her ears in a certain direction. Aura looked at said direction, and her eyes widened at the sight. She quietly started making her way towards it, and even instructed Mimi to quiet down, and practically glided towards her location. When she was close, she looked over the balcony, and moved her legs and parked her rear on it.

"Where are Joshua and Beat?" said a very familiar boy. He looked around and scratched the back of his head, not seeing any of the two around. He sighed, and started walking away, but was caught off guard as _he_ heard a very _familiar_ voice.

"Aw… how cute, we're matching in shirts!" a sarcastic voice looked down at him. He turned around and looked up to see Aura sitting down on the balcony smirking straight back at him. His eyes widened at her sight, and noticed she was wearing something different and that her hair had grown out. She jumped down from the balcony and landed on the ground with ease. She stood up and kept smirking at him, but she eyed him from head to toe, and raised her eyebrow in confusion. "My god, you look so young."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, completely ignoring her question. She crossed her arms but the smirk didn't leave her face.

"Everyone keeps asking me that, it's starting to get annoying," she replied. She received a slight glare from him, knowing that he wanted an answer, and she rolled her eyes. "Look, if I knew the answer I'd tell you, but right now I'm just here to make sure you and Sora pass that exam."

"Wait, so you came from the real world?" he asked and she nodded. He was beyond confused about it, but in all honesty; he was completely relieved that Aura was standing right in front of him. She acted a bit different, but that didn't matter much since she was visible to him. But he wondered. "I thought you merged with Marie?"

"I did, but somehow, I still ended up being me," she replied, placing a hand over her heart. "And… I became whole. I have a heart of my own."

"What…?" Riku was surprised, did this mean that Aura was her own person? He shook his head, how was that possible? He closed his eyes for a moment, and thought back on when she disappeared.

_Dante slowly raised his hands, and a small speck of light appeared, much similar to what Marie had done previously. "I also wanted you to use your powers… so that the little piece I took from Kingdom Hearts would be used on her."_

_The speck of light formed into a ball that traveled its way towards Aura, who was still pale and unconscious._

He opened his eyes and looked at Aura, who had been playing with a Dream Eater. He didn't question it as he had his own flying around, and just continued to stare at Aura. She noticed, and turned her head to look at his. She gave another smirk and placed her hands on her hips as she spoke, "Hey, you. What's with the face—"

Before she could finish her sentence, she was pulled into a tight hug from Riku. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and he dug his face into her hair. He was glad for this moment, this moment of knowing that she was someone he could feel. Someone he could see and someone he could talk with. All their time together was something he cherished, but when she started distancing herself from him, it hurt. Now, maybe, there was time to pick up where they left off. She was caught off guard and didn't even expect the hug, but she was surprisingly glad that he was hugging her. She remembered the adventure she had with him and all their time together, and she remembered every moment they had. Her heart started beating faster and she smiled about it. In fact, this moment reminded her of something else.

_"If you really care, then maybe you can help me forget about Roxas," she said, looking from side to side, away from Riku. "I need to let go of the past, and the only thing stopping me from completely letting go is Roxas, so—"_

_Stopping her from talking any further, Riku did what had been on his teenaged mind for some time. He leaned in, and placed his lips a little too roughly on Aura's lips. He had closed his eyes, not wanting to see her furious ones staring back. The truth was Aura just stared in shock at first. As the kiss continued though, she slowly closed her eyes and oddly enough, let him continue. This was new to her, and she didn't know if he should let him continue or not. The feeling she started getting was weird, but pleasant, and wanted it to last._

She closed her eyes as she remembered it, but before she could do anything else, she stopped. She opened her eyes, and she remembered about Roxas, feeling a flush of guilt pass through her body. Riku eventually let go of the hug and pulled away, and in a way, Aura was both relieved and sad about it ending. She looked up at him and tried to mask her feelings, but the boy just stared down at her—like he was looking for something. She smirked, seeing as it was the only thing she could do, and lightly punched his arm.

"So, I can tell you did a poor job at forgetting me," she said. He stopped staring and actually looked at her when she said that. How could he forget? She was the only girl he actually paid this much attention to that not even Kairi or Marie compared.

"I can try if you want me to that badly," he smirked. The thing about them both was that they knew how to play it cool, and majority of the time wouldn't admit to certain things. Their feelings were one of those things. Aura rolled her eyes and started walking away for a bit, and turned around to face him.

"So, how is Marie?" she asked. Riku frowned, and Aura wondered why. He took a deep breath and told her that Marie had left the islands, looking for clues on where to find her parents and aunt. Aura turned away and cursed to herself, why on earth did that girl go by herself? She groaned and face palmed, knowing that she needed to be with Marie. She turned to Riku. "Well, I hope she's safe."

Riku nodded, telling her that she was most likely surrounded by friends. Aura sighed and looked around, while Riku only realized now that they were in fact _matching_ in shirts, just that he had yellow stripes on the side. He walked up to her, but they both heard a voice far ahead.

"Hey, do you mind?" they both looked up to see a girl in maroon running away from a couple of Dream Eaters, and both Riku and Aura looked at each other before running after her. Riku's Komory Bat followed close behind while Mimi held onto Aura's hat. They ran all the way towards the girl and jumped in front of her. Riku told her to stay back, and she ran towards a safer spot. He immediately took out his Keyblade and Aura looked at it, she was kind of missing her Keyblade, but she couldn't do much about it. She brought out her scythe, which Riku noticed.

"Where's your Keyblade?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders and spun her scythe around.

"Don't have it anymore, so this will do," she said as she started running up towards the Dream Eaters. She swung her scythe around and sliced a couple of Dream Eaters, while Riku started fighting off the other half. His bat swung itself at the monsters, while Mimi did her thing and spun around while slapping her opponents. It didn't take long for them to fight off the Dream Eaters, and when they were done the girl came back out and smiled at them both.

"Seriously, thanks. I'm Shiki, how 'bout you two?" she asked. Riku and Aura introduced themselves, and she smiled again as she thanked them with their names this time. Riku merely shrugged it off and started walking away, but Aura stared as Shiki gasped. "Hey! That's it? You chat up a girl and then just say, "Sure," and walk off?"

"…What?" Aura asked, completely baffled that this girl was suddenly trying to flirt with Riku or something. He took notice, and decided to play with Aura's baffled expression.

"I'm bad at this, sorry. Look, it's not safe here. You should go home," he said. She smiled and twirled around as she played with her teddy bear. She asked Riku that if it was dangerous, then he shouldn't be leaving her there.

"Aren't you my knight in shining armor?" she asked. She turned around and winked at Riku, and Aura crossed her arms as she narrowed her eyes at Shiki.

"Kn-knight? You've got the wrong idea."

"Omigosh. I was so just kidding, you get out much?" she asked, which annoyed Riku a bit—so much for getting Aura jealous, he couldn't eve keep a cool look. He crossed his arms, and she went on saying how he reminded her of a boy she knew. She giggled and turned to Riku. "Glad we met."

"Yeah, sure," he replied as he turned around annoyed. Aura smirked, and started walking by Riku as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Don't get flustered, _knight boy_," she teased, which caused the silver head to blush slightly. Shiki noticed the girl and looked her up and down from head to toe, and was in amazement at her style.

"I love your clothes!" she exclaimed. Aura turned around and stared at the girl, who noticed just how full-figured Aura was. She ignored it, and smiled at her. "Yeah, you've got a great style!"

Aura crossed her arms and just started walking ahead, and Riku noticed that she hadn't changed _too_ much. He smiled and started walking with her as Shiki followed behind them. They eventually made their way towards another area with water, and Shiki gasped.

"Over there!" she shouted as she ran away from the two teens. Aura chuckled as she heard Riku sigh, and the boy shouted at Shiki that they needed to stick together. They heard her scream, and Riku sighed again.

"Perfect," he said in a deadpan voice. Aura chuckled again as she started running over to Shiki, but the moment she reached the area she gasped and froze in place. Riku noticed and started running up as he spoke. "Aura is something wrong—"

He stopped when he noticed a man in a black coat and Shiki's stuff teddy on the floor. He was confused as to why the person was in a black coat similar to the ones Organization XIII wear, but he wondered where Shiki was. The man in the coat looked down at them, and simply asked what they were doing here.

"Who are you?" Riku asked. The man stepped and kicked the stuffed teddy at Riku, which hit his chest before falling to the ground. Aura bent down to pick it up, and the man started walking towards them.

"You cannot control what you're not aware of," he said. He continued walking down the stairs as Riku and Aura started backing up. "This wakeless sleep will be your prison…to wander forever."

Aura looked behind them and noticed they were close to the water, and Riku asked what the man meant. They both heard a voice from the area they were all at previously, and Aura turned around to see the boy with the skull hat with Shiki.

"Shiki's gonna be alright! She told me whassup. Hoodie here set up this whole thing up, yo." The boy explained. Aura didn't have time to poke at his style of speaking, since he explained that Shiki would be able to go home if she brought Riku to the hooded man. "Yo, this is seriously one half-baked excuse for a mission. Betchu ain't even a Reaper."

The man took off his hood and out revealed a tanned man with short silver hair. He had a couple of loose bangs out front and his eyes were golden, but Aura felt like she had seen the man before. He raised his hands and out revealed a giant Dream Eater, to which Aura gasped at. Maybe this man was the disturbances that Yen Sid talked about? The giant Dream Eater moved into the next area, leaving them all safe for now, and Shiki lowered her head.

"I'm really sorry, Riku," she said. He grabbed the stuffed animal from Aura and threw it at Shiki, telling her that it was alright. He looked at the boy.

"Beat, watch her," he said. Aura turned to the boy with the skull hat, and finally knew his name. Riku turned to her and asked if she was prepared, but Aura completely forgot about the deal.

"I… can't. You and Sora are taking the Mark of Mastery, and I'm just here to make sure it gets finished. I can't help you with this or it would be considered cheating," she explained. Riku lowered his eyes, and felt regret that she couldn't fight by his side, but she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll stay here with them, so go beat that Dream Eater."

He smirked and ran off right after. Aura watched as he ran into the next area, and placed a hand over her chest—hoping that Riku would be okay. She didn't understand why she was feeling like this, since she used to never be so worried about Riku. Maybe it was her heart, and if so, she was glad. Mimi bounced on her shoulder and the girl smiled as she rubbed her ears, she was really glad for the heart.

**-x-**

Sora had just finished fighting off one of the bigger Dream Eaters, and watched as it floated towards the sky. He looked down, but completely gasped when he saw Riku with two girls. His eyes shifted to one of them, and upon closer inspection, noticed it was Aura!

"Riku? Aura?" he called out. He watched as the girl with the red hair ran past him, but decided to run towards the other two. However, he was stopped by Joshua. As soon as Joshua appeared from his portal, Neku walked over and called him. A little girl with the same skull hat that Beat wore appeared as well, and Sora knew her as Rhyme. He looked over to Neku. "Do you know this guy?"

"Yeah. Joshua. He's my… friend." Neku continued walking towards them all, and Sora asked if he was the one that took Rhyme away, and how he knew his name. Joshua explained about Rhyme, stating that he was hanging on to her dreams for her, that they were his portal. Sora didn't quite understand, so Joshua simply said that her dreams were a gateway between worlds.

"Next question—how could I possibly know your name—right?" Joshua asked. Sora nodded, and Joshua told him that Traverse Town had a little secret. It only appeared when someone out there needed shelter, but for right now, was made up from his dreams. It explained how he knew Sora, saying that he dreamed him up along with Riku. Sora asked where he was, and Joshua looked over to the projection of Riku and Aura as he explained. "He's right inside this projection, in another imagining of this world."

"You mean… another Traverse Town? Can I get there with your portal thing?" Sora asked. It wouldn't work him, as Joshua explained, saying that it would only work for the person with Rhyme's dreams. He explained that they were seeing a chain of events from Riku's side.

"As for how the world got split in two…" Joshua said as a man in a black coat appeared in front of Riku and Aura. "I have a feeling you'll need to ask this guy."

"Him again!" Sora shouted as he saw the man in the coat from his own experience with him. He took off his hood, and Sora wondered who he was. He frowned when he saw Riku and Aura turn towards him, and he really wanted to see them.

**-x-**

After Sora watched the events of his friends, he left Joshua, Rhyme and Neku and decided to explore for a bit more. He was shocked to see Aura in the world, and wondered if it had anything to do with the sleeping worlds, or maybe if Marie was around. Either way, he had to know, since it was killing him. He kicked a can on the floor, and noticed a couple of Dream Eaters stalking their way towards him. He quickly took out his Keyblade and prepared to fight the Dream Eaters, but he saw a twig being thrown at them.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Sora gasped and quickly turned around after hearing Marie's voice, but instead saw a girl who looked _exactly_ like her. His jaw was left opened, and the girl came running down as she threw another twig at the Dream Eaters. "Don't just stand there, run!"

He shook his head, why was she acting weird? He knew her, she would be running and jumping for a hug from him, but instead she was fighting off a couple of Dream Eaters. He focused on the fight and ran in front of her as he placed his arm before her.

"It's okay, I got this!" he said. She wondered what was going on, but when she noticed his weapon she gasped and smiled. She watched him fight off the Dream Eaters with such ease with his cat, and she was so excited that he was fighting with a weapon unlike her twig. After the fight finished, he wiped off the sweat and turned towards the girl.

"Wow, I didn't know you could fight," she said as she placed her hands on her hips. She stuck out one for Sora to shake, and she smiled at him. "My name's Mai, what's yours?"

"Mai?" he asked. No, this girl was definitely Marie, there was no denying it. She had her complexion, her eyes, her plump lips and her rosy cheeks. The only thing different was her brown hair, which he couldn't understand how it got like that, but she was Marie. He decided to shake her hand, and something felt weird, her handshake was strong. "Um… I'm Sora."

"That's a sweet name, and I totally like your sword!" she exclaimed. Sora wondered if she was a fake like the one from his last adventure, but she didn't create any hostility. He knew this was Marie, but something was off. He just smiled, since it was all he could manage at the moment, but he was confused. "Say, Sora... are you new here? I've never seen you around before."

"Uh... yeah, I am," he played along. Honestly, it was weird to see Marie as a brunette. It was even weirder seeing her not remember him, and wondered if someone was playing a sick joke on him. He noticed that she didn't have the necklace he gave her, and instead was replaced by a black choker with a purple star. She gave a genuine smile at him, and he returned it, remembering the smile that Marie would give him.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He lowered his head, and didn't know if he should tell her. He thought for a moment but decided to tell her anyway, and he explained about Marie and what she was to him. The girl gasped. "You have a girlfriend named Marie?"

He blushed at the word girlfriend and nodded, he never actually said anything about the word, but in a way it was like that. He figured they didn't need anything to label them, but didn't mind the word at all. It was nice. The girl blushed.

"You know, my name is Marie. I just make people call me Mai." Sora looked at her with wide eyes, he knew she was Marie, but it was still odd how she couldn't remember him. He asked her why she dubbed herself Mai, and the girl explained how she didn't like it, or didn't want to accept that she was named Marie. "I think Mai sounds way cooler. I think it suits me better!" she giggled.

"Sorry, Sora, but I gotta jet. I have places to be, but it was totally fun meeting you!" Mai smiled as she placed her hands behind her back. Sora couldn't help but chuckle at her uplifting personality, and hadn't seen this side of Marie since they first journeyed together. He said his farewells to the girl, and she gave him a quick hug. "Hey, come visit me again, okay? I _really_ wanna try that sword of yours."

"Okay, it's a promise," he smiled.

* * *

Ah, chapter three is done! I wonder who this Mai chick is and what she is to Marie, Sora, Riku or even Aura.

Speaking of Aura, poor girl seems confused between Riku and Roxas. Thank god Axel's not in the picture, right? I wonder what she'll do.

**Mai's look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6zubpc


	4. Having a heart is weird

**Aura's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6zt7ll

**Aura's weapon; Harmonic Wave:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6crpql

**Stella's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6z5prr

**Ryan's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d700342

**A/N:  
**I'm incredibly happy at the rate I keep uploading these chapters, and I gotta say that the game is looking awesome!

* * *

**Chapter Four  
****ȶ  
****Having a heart is weird**

Ryan sat on the couch along with Kairi, and watched the woman before them take a sip from her drink. Stella was a bit quiet for a moment, letting it sink in that she was _finally_ back home, but obviously not pleased. She hadn't gone to see her brother and sister-in-law yet, and instructed Ryan not to tell them about her either. She wanted to be ready when she saw them, since she knew they would completely lose it. Ryan wanted answers.

"Where did you go? You know, Marie is out there looking for you after you left Kingdom Hearts," he told her. She sighed and lowered her head, Ryan definitely worried like his brother. "Aren't you going to find her and bring her back? I'm sure you can!"

"Ryan, it's not as easy as it seems. I was lucky to even get here," she told her nephew. "I barely escaped your aunt Trinity, and I still need some time to recuperate before I start anything. I know the feeling of wanting to get something done, but at my state I can't. I need to conserve energy before I even _think_ of doing anything."

"Aunt Stella… I just, I'm worried about my cousin," he said. He rubbed the back of his neck and Kairi noticed the worried look on his face, she wanted to help him but really didn't know how. Ryan looked back at Stella. "She went to look for you, my uncle Dante and even my aunt Trinity. I'm guessing she found more information about you guys and wanted to look for you three."

"I don't doubt it, Marie can get extremely determined. She is my daughter after all," she chuckled a bit at that last bit, but shook her head, it wasn't the time to be chuckling. "I don't want her to be in any trouble right now, especially with Trinity around. She was working for Xemnas, and if my guesses are correct, then she'll figure out a way to bring him back."

"What? She can't do that!" Kairi protested. Stella agreed, but she also knew Trinity, and that woman didn't stop until she got the knowledge she thirsted for. Kairi fidgeted a bit in her seat, and looked over to Stella. "Sora and Riku talked about how Trinity took your husband, Mrs. Hill."

"Mrs. Hill is my mother, sweetheart. You can call me Stella," she smiled at the redhead, and she smiled in return as she nodded. Stella sensed the Keyblade's power within Kairi, and wondered about her position right now. If it wasn't going to be Xehanort, his Nobody or his Heartless, then she knew it would have to be Trinity. She feared for her home with Trinity on the loose, and she wasn't going to let her get anywhere near Destiny Islands.

"Aunt Stella, do you think… you'd be able to train me?" Ryan asked. Stella looked at her nephew and wondered where he came up with that question. Ryan sighed. "I'm not sick anymore; Kingdom Hearts must have healed me. I want to help everyone and fight to protect those closest to me. Will you teach me?"

"Unfortunately, I can't teach you how to wield a Keyblade, nor can I pass down the ability to you since I already passed it to Marie," she told him. His face lowered and he frowned, but Stella wasn't done. "I will teach you how to fight with any other weapon though, but I will have to talk with your parents."

"You mean it? You'll teach me?" he asked. Stella nodded, and Ryan told her that he wanted to fight with the sword. She agreed to his choice, and Kairi asked if she could be taught to, wanting to know how to fight so she could fight with Sora, Marie and Riku. Stella lowered her eyes.

"There is a proper way to fight with the Keyblade, and when you learn how to fight that way, you may become a Keyblade master," Stella said. Kairi asked if she was a Keyblade master, and she nodded her head, explaining that she received the proper training from her former master who was named Eraqus. She was saddened when she found out that he was taken out by Xehanort, and it was one of the many reasons why she wanted her revenge. She looked at Kairi. "I don't know if I have the right to train you Kairi, but I can train you the way my master trained me."

"I would very much like that," she replied. Stella smiled at the girl, and took a deep breath as she looked at the door. She knew she was going to have to show her face, but wanted to feel prepared before doing so.

"When I get some rest, I'll talk to your parents, Ryan. If everything goes well, we'll look for a suitable weapon and I'll begin training both of you," she told them. Kairi smiled and seemed excited, while Ryan was beyond happy. He was finally given a chance to do something with his life and he was going to take it, he just hoped his parents would agree to it.

**-x-**

Aura, Riku, Beat and Shiki watched as a scene appeared before them. A projection of some kid with orange hair, a boy with blonde hair and a girl with the same skull hat as Beat appeared. She was surprised to see Sora, and was glad to know that he was doing well. Beat seemed emotional about not being able to get to Rhyme, but Riku told him that if their hearts were connected, they'd reach each other.

They all disappeared, save for Sora, and the boy named Joshua. He explained that something happened that brought their existence to an end, and he managed to salvage the last remnants of their dreams and found Traverse Town. He kept talking on and on about wanting to make them exist, and Riku wanted to know who Joshua was.

"Let's just say… a friend," he said. A bright light appeared from behind him, and a pair of wings appeared. Aura gasped, and watched as he started flying away, and then a keyhole appeared. Riku looked at Sora, and they both nodded, even though they were in different versions of the same town. Aura watched as they brought up their keyblades, and unlocked the world, waking it from its dream. Sora disappeared from them, and Riku gasped lightly. Aura wanted to know how she could reach him, since she had to check up on both of them.

"I'm lost for words at all of this," she said as she started walking a bit ahead. Mimi bounced around her shoulders and started squeaking, and Aura sighed. "I still need to check on Sora, too… but he seems to be doing all right."

"Yeah, he is," Riku replied. Aura looked over at him and wondered why they were separated in the first place, but she figured it wouldn't help much if they were doing the exam _together_. Still, it felt weird, especially since they were such great friends. She started walking ahead with her hands on her hips, but stopped and turned around to look at Riku.

"I never realized you cut your hair," she said. Riku got out of his thoughts and looked at Aura as he raised his eyebrow at her—she clearly lacked the ability to see details, or was just really oblivious. "Didn't like all that hair in your face?" she asked.

"No, actually, I didn't. It got too long," he replied. Aura smirked as she walked up and was inches away from his face. He felt her breath on him as she kept smirking, and Riku stiffened at the close proximity. She brought up her arm quite slowly and brushed her hand off of his shoulders, and when it seemed like she was going for his face, she tugged at a couple strains of his hair.

"I like it," she chimed. She stopped tugging at his hair and brought down her hand as she started backing up. Riku exhaled and was surprised he had kept his breath in the whole time. He really wasn't good at these things it seemed, yet somehow got a kiss and a hug from the brunette before him. She just chuckled. "I can actually see your face."

She gave a wink before walking away, and Riku sighed. Shiki made him completely uncomfortable and annoyed, but Aura made him feel at ease when she wasn't _trying_ to make him uncomfortable. She really didn't care, since she enjoyed Riku's company any way it was. Even on their last adventure, with him being dressed up, she really liked how he made her feel so alive—like she had a heart. This time she actually did have one, but suddenly, she started thinking about Roxas and Axel. There was a sinking feeling in her chest, and she couldn't stop thinking about them—mostly about Axel, since the guy was _gone_. Roxas was just in someone's heart. The feeling was getting worse, and she felt herself wanting to tear up. She stood up straight and took a deep breath in, and it seemed to help for a bit. Who knew having a heart would be this difficult?

**-x-**

Riku and Aura reached the next world, and she was completely amazed at how they had to travel. Flying through hoops and obstacles seemed pretty far-fetched from the usual portal way. Once they were on land Aura noticed tall buildings and the bright sky, completely opposite from Traverse Town, and actually liked it. She wondered if Sora was here too, and hoped that he was faring well, since she couldn't reach him. She knew that she was only watching out for Sora because of Yen Sid, but she felt pretty obligated to do it anyways, for causing him _and_ Marie such grief last time. Also, since she was a completely whole person, those feelings of ever hating Sora disappeared.

Things seemed pretty simple for once, and she liked it. No more hiding in the dark or fighting in the dark. She was a free person able to choose what was right for her, and right now, the light spoke words far greater than any darkness could. She was determined to stay in the light instead of teetering on the depths of nothing. Aura stopped for a moment when she saw a tanned woman with thick black hair and green eyes run pass her and Riku, and then a man in knight clothing ran up to us.

"You two! Have you seen a gypsy woman?" he asked. Aura and Riku looked at each other before shaking their heads at the man. He seemed a bit disappointed, but thanked them anyways and left. Riku started walking away, but Aura stayed behind when she heard the soft pitter platter of feet. She turned around, and noticed the same woman from before walk up to her.

"Thank you. You stood up for me," she said. She smiled at Aura, and then at Riku when he made his way back to them. "I'm Esmeralda."

"I'm Aura, and this is…"she said as she pointed a finger at Riku, signaling him to introduce himself.

"Riku. And we don't even know what a "gypsy" is," he replied. He asked Esmeralda why they were chasing her, and she explained that Judge Frollo had been hunting down the gypsies for years. Aura crossed her arms when the woman explained that they were guilty of nothing but loving their freedom, but Frollo didn't like anything that he couldn't control. She could understand, since she felt like that when she was in Organization XIII and even with DiZ.

"Now he's even brought in fresh blood to torment us," she said. She lowered her head and sighed. "I'd hate to know what darkness drives that man."

"I think I can imagine…" Riku said under his breath, which Aura caught. She looked over to him, but he kept continuing. "Tell me more. Was he always like this?"

She really didn't know, since she didn't give any attention to the man, but she told them that if they wanted to know more to reach Notre Dame. She left in a hurry after that, not wanting to cause unwanted attention, and the teens made their way towards the inner city. They saw a giant church in the middle of the square, and they instinctively made their way there. Once they opened the doors, Riku immediately called if there was anyone in it.

"Who…who are you people?" a soft-spoken voice said. Aura and Riku looked around, until they saw a figure behind them. Riku quickly introduced himself and started walking towards the man, who shyly introduced himself as Quasimodo. "I'm very sorry, but the archdeacon is away."

He started walking away, and Aura ran up to them as she spoke. "We're looking for someone named Frollo. Oh, and my name is Aura."

Quasimodo quickly turned around, and shyly looked away from Aura as he looked at Riku. She raised her eyebrow at this, and couldn't really make out the man before her. She just saw a lump on him, and grew curious.

"My master? He said he had business on the outskirts of the city," Quasimodo said. Riku tilted his head in confusion, and asked him if he actually knew him. The man nodded. "He's…he's very kind. Master Frollo saved my life. He protects me from the outside world."

"What does that mean?" Aura asked. Quasimodo still didn't dare to look at her, and he simply told them that the people in the town would be mean to him. He called himself a monster, and Aura's eyes widened when he appeared in the light. He had a lump over his left eye and a huge hunchback. It really wasn't anything to be called monster, at least that's what she thought, and assumed that maybe he was overreacting. Ugly to her was Saix or Marluxia, since they had such rotten personalities. Heck, even Larxene was ugly to her.

"Is that what Frollo told you?" Riku asked. Quasimodo looked at him with such surprise, but Riku continued. "Trust me, looks can be deceiving. A good friend sees you for who you are, no matter what face you wear."

He looked over to Aura, who wondered what he meant by that, but then remembered how he had a different face last time. She still remained friends with him even when he looked like Ansem, and he stayed friends with her when she was just a copy of one of his best friends. She noticed a smile from his face, and she genuinely smiled back, which Riku hadn't seen before. She looked over to Quasimodo.

"Riku is right—you should go out and explore. You'll meet people who see you for you," she said. Quasimodo turned away and told them that he was forbidden to leave the cathedral. Riku asked if it was what was stopping him, since he felt it was something else stopping him. The man started walking away, and Aura felt bad for him.

"Ask your heart, Quasimodo," Riku said. He thanked him for the information on Frollo when he didn't reply, and he looked over to Aura as he nodded for them to leave. She walked behind him, and was able to catch what he said. "Wish I could take my own advice…"

_Ask your heart…_ it was sound advice to her, and before she would just laugh since she had no heart. What did she want out of life? Now that she was given a chance to live, what did she want to do? She didn't want to be fighting _all_ the time. She stopped in her tracks and really thought about it, where would she be living after everything was done and over with? Twilight Town? It _was_ the place of her birth. Riku stopped when he didn't hear footsteps behind him, and turned around to see Aura lost in thought.

"Everything okay?" he asked. Aura jumped a bit as she got out of her thoughts, and looked at Riku. She kept noticing how young he looked, and it was another thing she wondered about. Would she age? What if her having a heart came with consequences? The only real thing she noticed was her hair growing, but other than that she felt like nothing really changed all that much.

"I'm fine," she replied. She started walking past him, but he quickly and lightly grabbed her wrist, which made her turn around. "I said I was fine…"

"Your face says otherwise," he said. She scrunched up her face as she grew disappointed that it betrayed her, but maybe that was another thing about having a heart. She was able to tell Riku things back then though, so what made it different this time?

"I guess having a heart makes things seem…weirder," she confessed. Riku looked at her as she returned the look. He had noticed that she seemed more light-hearted to situations, and was surprised at how well she handled herself with Quasimodo. That smile though… it was something completely new to him, but he enjoyed it. To him, he never saw Aura as Marie, he really saw her as herself—a girl with her own thoughts. There were things that Marie couldn't say that Aura could and she thought differently than the former, with her own beliefs and dreams. Her hand fell ever so slowly towards his, and they brushed off each other, but she quickly backed away. It wasn't fair to Roxas…

Riku noticed, but didn't say anything about it. Instead, he smiled at her. "I like seeing you smile; you should do it more often."

"If you're willing to pay me, then maybe, since smiling hurts the cheeks sometimes," she replied. It got a chuckle out of Riku, and the both of them started making their way towards the town's exit. Once there, they stopped and notice a giant Dream Eater fly by them. It turned around and started firing fireballs at them, and Riku quickly grabbed Aura as he jumped out of the way.

"What is going on?" she asked rather angrily. She looked up and glared at the Dream Eater, but it obviously wasn't doing much. Instead, it kept firing its fireballs, and Riku grabbed Aura's hands as he started running. She puffed her cheeks. "This isn't fair, you know!"

"Tell me about it! But we have no choice—we have to run!" he shouted. They started running across the bridge and a few boxes blocked their way. Riku let go of Aura's hand and grabbed his Keyblade as he attacked the boxes, while the brunette watched out for the Dream Eater. They eventually made it across the bridge, but they weren't out of the Dream Eater's sight. Aura brought out her scythe and quickly got rid of the boxes, and when one of the fireballs hit the floor it sent a box flying her way. She snapped her fingers, and the box went flying away.

_'Glad to know I still have that skill!' _She thought as she looked down at her finger. She continued tackling down the boxes with her scythe, while Riku got rid of any nearby Dream Eaters. They passed through the opened space of the town, and came running out towards the skirts of it. They still had the Dream Eater chasing them, but they were able to see the blonde knight from before and an old man who was surely Frollo.

"What demon is this?" he asked. The old man in black walked up to the Dream Eater, and Aura stiffened a bit, feeling uncomfortable.

"Oh, you are mistaken, Captain Phoebus," the man turned to the rest of the crew and smirked. "This is no demon. It is righteous judgment! I have been granted this power so that I may smite all gypsies now and forever!"

Phoebus didn't look pleased one bit, but Riku explained that Frollo wouldn't even listen. "Once you've fallen that far, there's almost no coming back."

"How dare you. I am a virtuous man," he replied as he glared at Riku. Aura took a stance beside him and watched as the words kept spewing out of the man's mouth. "Good and evil shall be made plain…once the gypsies face the fires of judgment."

He started cackling as he left, and the Dream Eater started following. Riku and Aura jumped a bit when they saw Phoebus running in front of it. He yelled at it, but the monster simply twirled around and slammed him to the ground. They came running after him, and Aura bent down as she grabbed the wound, healing it slightly. Riku watched as she did, and looked at Phoebus. "Don't worry, let us deal with Frollo," he said.

"Thanks. I gotta tell you, this is embarrassing—having to rely on kids," he replied. Aura rolled her eyes at the statement, and Riku just smiled, telling him that he wouldn't be the first. The pain still lingered with Phoebus, but at least his wounds were healed. He looked at Aura and then at Riku, telling them to be careful. "It looks like that creature…is heading for the cathedral."

"We're on it," Aura said as she got up from healing his wounds. He nodded at the two teens, and they both started making their way towards the cathedral.

* * *

Chapter four done!

We're still at the start of the game, but once we delve further in, it'll get serious. Maybe we might see some Marie action? Or more Mai? Who knows? I know we'll see some Trinity soon, so hold on to your horses!

**Dracula X:  
**Thank you very much, and I'm hoping to reach no more than 30 chapters. I don't want it being very long—I just want to get straight to the main points so there's no filler.

As for your other question, I will probably end up waiting, but in the meantime I'll probably end up writing Kingdom Hearts AUs, or fix up my grammar mistakes in my previous stories. I still have other non-Kingdom Hearts stories that I need to finish, too. I sincerely hope it doesn't take 10 years…. D: but you are right when it comes to SE…

**Shadow 1n2:  
**Happy late new years! I'm glad you like it so far because I'm having a lot of fun writing it! Yes! I've heard of RWBY, and the guy who creates all of the characters made Dead Fantasy, he's so talented! Haha, yeah it had to be that or a cat or maybe even a lion, but I decided on something small and portable. XD oh yes, she'll be very interesting, but she'll be a key link to something. Yess! Though I won't be writing much of Marie in the beginning, she'll be more important by the end. I can't wait to write about all of the other organization members, it's gonna be such a treat!

I don't think I've ever heard of that movie O: Tom Hanks plays Walt Disney? I gotta check it out haha, it sounds interesting!

**Guest-With-Pie:  
**Thank you for the encouragement! I might have her meet some of the more significant ones in her past life, but not really all of them. It'll be quite interesting and I miss them too, they were so big in KHII. DX


	5. Whispers of her name

**Aura's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6zt7ll

**Aura's weapon; Harmonic Wave:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6crpql

**Stella:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6z5prr

**Ryan:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d700342

**Marie:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6ztad8

**A/N:  
**Sorry for the late reply, since I've started college again I've been busy with readings and assignments. But, since I'm on reading week, I have a whole week to myself so I hope to upload as much as possible.

You guys probably know me well enough that I like to 'skip' the fighting scenes, haha.

It also says on the KH wikis that Sora is 16 while Riku is 17. I'm gonna use this for now until I hear something else cause SE hasn't given anything on their ages. :/

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**ȶ**

**Whispers of her name**

When Aura and Riku made their way towards the city they saw crates, barrels and sacks on fire, and wondered what was going on. When they reached the square Aura quickly covered her nose when the overwhelming smoke of the fire invaded her nostrils, and she along with Riku ran over to two bodies standing around the middle. When they got closer, they realized it was Quasimodo and Esmeralda, although the latter didn't look too well.

"Is she alright?" Riku asked as he stared at them both. The woman opened her eyes and told them that she was fine thanks to Quasimodo, and the silver headed boy asked where the Dream Eater went.

"It's… it's up there," Quasi answered as he carried Esmeralda in his arms. They all looked up and saw the creature flying up above them. Riku nodded and started running in to the cathedral, but Quasimodo shouted and wanted to go with them. "W-wait. Wait. I'll go with you!"

"Thanks, but stay with her," Riku said as he stopped. He turned his head slightly towards the man behind him as he spoke, and quickly started running again until he stopped once more. Aura stopped too, but he instructed her to go ahead for a bit. She followed, and ran inside the cathedral. Riku turned around completely, and looked at Quasi. "Quasimodo. Did your heart have the answers?"

Quasimodo happily nodded and Riku was glad, now if he could only take his own advice. He turned around and started running after Aura, who went inside the cathedral, and saw her standing by a couple of talking gargoyles. He ran up to them, and noticed they had just finished fighting off a couple of the Dream Eaters. He stopped right when he got up to them and looked at the gargoyles. "Well… seems you three got this covered," he said.

"It was a walk in the park!"

"How would you know? You don't have any legs."

"Yeah, but—Aw, gimme a break! It's just a figure of speech!"

"Both of you, pipe down. And get ready! 'Cause here come some more!" the purple gargoyle asserted. They hopped over to the remaining Dream Eaters in the area, and left Riku and Aura behind. They heard a roar coming from upstairs, and Riku looked over to the girl. She shook her head.

"You know I can't fight with you, but I have your back," she told him. Riku was reminded again and he understood—still, it was so much better when it was both of them fighting side by side. She willed out her scythe and patted Riku's shoulder. "I'll make sure none of them distract you while you fight."

He smirked at her, and took out his Keyblade as he made his way upstairs. She fought off the Dream Eaters surrounding the whole bottom level, and watched as Riku kept making his way up towards the stairs. She swung her scythe around the creatures with Mimi slapping her ears around, but they stopped when they saw two men appear in front of them.

"A perfect specimen… one reborn with a clean slate. Which will you choose? Light or the darkness?" said a familiar voice. Aura turned to face him, and she gasped when she saw it was Xehanort—or Ansem, the seeker of darkness. The same boy who appeared to her and Riku when they were trying to save Shiki showed up as well, and the chills she got from the boys stare made it all real. His piercing golden eyes stared hard at her as strands of his short silver hair flew across his face.

"You're the Heartless of the man who stole Ansem's name… Xehanort," she retorted. The man had a slight annoyed look, but Aura ignored it as she looked at the younger man. "What are you doing here?"

"Why don't you join us? You know you're strong enough to fight with the darkness, why let all that potential go to waste?" he asked. Aura scoffed as she prepared her scythe, but didn't attack quite yet.

"Sorry—think I'll pass. I learned my lesson about trusting people in black cloaks." She positioned herself more into a fighting stance, but the two who stood before her remained in their positions. "I don't want anything to do with the darkness."

The Heartless of Xehanort and the boy both glared at her. They stared hard at her being and she wondered _just_ what they wanted with her, but when a Dream Eater came their way they quickly left into a dark portal similar to the one she used to summon. She quickly slashed her scythe across the Dream Eater's body; slicing it into two and watching it disappear.

**-x-**

Riku ran up to the top of the tower and watched as Frollo stood on the ledge of the cathedral's roof with a sword in his right hand. He gave out a sinister cackle as he cheered for the flames to continue burning everything in sight, and Riku came running just behind him.

"You see? This is the power that has been granted to me!" Frollo stated. Riku got into his fighting stance and told him that he was just an old man with a dark heart, and Frollo grew furious with the boy's incorrect statements. A dark glow appeared around him as he told Riku he was going to be judged like everyone else, and the Dream Eater from before appeared and flew so close to him that he stumbled. He dropped the sword as he kept stumbling, and eventually fell backwards into the roaring flames below him as he shouted that judgment would be his.

Riku looked towards the sword, but quickly looked up when he saw Ansem, the seeker of darkness, and the young man who he saw the last time. He demanded to know what they were doing here, and the young man told him that 'his best friend' was never far—referring to Ansem.

"So sad. The cost of yielding to the darkness," Ansem said as he picked up the sword. Riku scoffed and told him that he was able to write a book about it, but the man just stared at him. "I embraced it, and unless you hurry up and learn to do the same, your story will end just like his."

"I walk the road to dawn!" Riku shouted as he took out his Keyblade. It was still evident to both Ansem and the young man that he was still afraid of the darkness, and they soon left into their portal. Riku tried running after them, but it closed as soon as he could reach it. He wasn't going to be afraid of it, not while he had the Keyblade, and it was going to guide him to the light. He looked up towards the flying Dream Eater and got back into his fighting stance. He took a deep breath as he started running towards it.

**-x-**

She ran around a couple of obstacles and attacked the moving object, but another one was close to hitting her back. She quickly deflected the attack and pointed her Keyblade at it as she chanted one of her spells, but the object quickly made its way around and knocked her to the ground.

"Ugh…" Marie groaned as she lay flat out on the ground. She was already starting her training, and fighting with a clean slate was incredibly hard for her. There was so much to learn now that she was going to fight the proper way, and while also learning how to control her own powers from Kingdom Hearts, it seemed almost overwhelming. The only good thing was that she had Aerith, Yuffie, Leon and Cid to encourage her. They were excited to know that they could potentially see a Keyblade master in the making, but Marie had her doubts. She blew a strand of hair from her face, and she heard Merlin speaking from above.

"Let us call it a day," he advised as he waved his wand around. The whole obstacles around her disappeared, and she sighed as she got up from the floor. She dusted off any dirt from her sweater, skirt and leggings, and made her way towards Merlin.

"Do you really think I have what it takes to be a Keyblade master? I feel like I'm only getting worse," she confessed. Merlin stroked his beard a couple of times, but reassured the girl that he believed that she was indeed destined to be one. Marie didn't know if she was 'destined' and she found it to be a bit far-fetched, but she kept thinking about Sora and Riku and how they were taking their exams to become Keyblade masters as well. She placed a hand over her heart and looked down at her necklace—she didn't want to let them down.

She still kept looking around the computer to see if she could find anything on Stella, Dante or Trinity, but other than the stuff she recently found out about there was nothing there. There was nothing on Trinity she could find and she figured that Trinity never came around to Radiant Garden in her time. Stella and Dante did make their way here, and only very briefly, but they managed to talk with some of the residents here. It was weird, it was like everything was connected for a reason—how Stella knew Ansem and how she even knew Xehanort. What she wanted to know more about was her grandmother, who seemed like the first out of all of them to wield a Keyblade. What she read in the notes that she brought along from home, was that Anne was a woman who wielded a sword that looked like a key, and met a man named Xehanort.

She couldn't quite understand—was it possible that it could really be the same Xehanort that she remembered? She closed her eyes a bit, and remembered seeing an old man—the one who kidnapped her and was named Xehanort—and the youthful looking man named Xehanort who entered as Ansem's apprentice. They were both named Xehanort yet they were different in age, and she wondered how it was possible. There was something there that she felt she needed to find out, and she felt like it had something to do with her family—Maybe specifically with her grandmother? She wanted to know.

**-x-**

Stella looked into the mirror and examined herself—she wasn't anything like how she looked when she was younger, but it was expected. She grew up and she became a woman with a mind of her own, well, a woman with _more_ of a mind of her own. She could still clearly remember the events that happened to her a long while ago—16 years give or take, maybe a little more. The most out of those times that she remembered was her own mother—a woman who did everything so that the darkness would be kept at bay. She was pretty certain Marie was trying to figure out the history of their family, seeing as she was able to come home. It was weird how well she knew her own daughter even though they hadn't seen each other at all in person until just recently, and Stella frowned at that. If she wanted to find out more about the history, there was only one person who could tell her almost everything—Anne Bailey, Stella's mother and Marie's grandmother.

Anne was another different woman altogether. She had altruistic views and was willing to do anything to stop the darkness. In a way, she was very much like Marie, but whatever the girl lacked Anne was strongest in. It was like there was nothing wrong with the woman, only that she left her only family to fight for what was right, something Stella herself could understand now. She stopped staring into the mirror, and finally looked towards the door—she was finally going to talk to her brother and sister-in-law. She _had_ to do it; they had a right to know everything.

She opened the door to her house, and looked out into the very clear sky of Destiny Island, something she missed a lot of. She was still dressed in her outfit from before, obviously cleaned, and didn't want to take it off. Maybe it was because she was so used to it, or maybe it was because it reminded her of a fate that almost resembled her mother's. She was lucky Marie had strength and friends to help her and Dante out of that place. She looked ahead and found the house that belonged to her brother, and noticed that it looked completely different from before. They obviously had a lot of renovations done. She kept walking and noticed the diner that Trinity, Dante and Leah were in charge with, and noticed it was striving way more than it was in the past since there were plenty of customers seen through the windows. She walked past the restaurant, and eventually made her way towards the Hill residence.

She took a deep breath and brought her knuckles close to the door. She hesitated a bit, but closed her eyes as she roughly knocked on the door. She waited a while as she kept her eyes closed, and heard feet shuffling on the other side. She opened her eyes as the door opened, and on the other side appeared Ryan, who didn't seem at all surprised that she was there. In fact, he signaled her to enter and she followed him behind in their house, which was renovated way more than the outside. He led her toward the stools by the kitchen island, and told her he would call up his parents, who were downstairs organizing some papers from their diner. He not so much called them as he yelled out their names saying that someone was there to see them, and Stella heard chairs moving and the shuffling of feet as they climbed up the stairs.

"Ryan, you can't just let anyone in this house. It's not always safe," Leah said as she walked up the stairs. She stopped when she noticed Stella sitting on the stool, but wasn't quite sure who she was, since she changed so much.

"Ryan can handle anyone at the door, right bud?" Eli said as he followed his wife up. He froze when he saw Stella, and almost as if it was the blood in them speaking, he automatically knew it was his long-lost sister. "Stella, is… is that actually you?"

"What!? Stella?" Leah looked at the woman sitting down at the stool, and Stella took another deep breath before getting up. She clasped her hands together as she looked at them, and had a slight smile on her face.

"Eli, Leah… it's been 16 years, hasn't it? I'm sorry I hadn't been home for so long," she choked, trying to hold back the tears that she didn't want to show. Eli shook his head and quickly ran up to hug his sister, who let the tears run down as she hugged her dear brother back. Leah walked over to Ryan and placed her hands on his shoulders as they watched the two hug it out.

"I can't believe you're here, I thought you were dead at first, but when Marie told us you were alive… I really hoped it was true. Now you're here, standing in front of me," He hugged her tighter and she took a deep breath as she dug her face into his shirt. It had been too long since she had seen or hugged her brother, and the last time it happened was when she gave birth to Marie. He let go of the hug, and Leah took the chance to hug Stella herself. She was so glad to see Stella alive and well, but in the back of her mind she thought of Dante, but didn't want to say anything just yet.

"Eli, Leah… there's so much I need to tell you."

**-x-**

Aura climbed up the stairs once she heard a shriek from the roof, and Mimi held on to her hat tightly as she did. When she opened the door she saw the Dream Eater falling towards the fire with Riku watching it. She sighed in relief knowing that Riku was alright, and when he turned around he smirked at the brunette.

"Knew you would do it," she announced. She crossed her arms and slowly walked up to Riku, who placed his right hand on his hip. She lifted her chin and slightly passed him as she looked out into the blazing flames. "Guess we should try and fix this, huh?"

"Guess so," he replied. She turned her head and gave another smile at the silver head. His expression softened at the sight since she looked so beautiful whenever she smiled, and he honestly wanted her to keep smiling but he knew she was still getting used to it. They kept staring at each other and Riku noticed the shine in her eyes, and was finally able to see some life in them. It felt natural that they were staring at each other, like they could stare all day and it wouldn't turn into awkwardness. Aura eventually let out a small laugh, which caught Riku out of his stare.

"Come on, we should head downstairs."

* * *

Yay, chapter 5 done! I'm sorry for the late update, but I'm going to upload as much as I can while I'm on reading week!

**Shadow1n2:**

Yes she is! She's now in the flesh and she'll definitely have a big role in KH3 if it ever comes out. Same goes for Trinity. Yeah her scythe is badass, I wish I could make Aura's as cool as hers, and I have heard of that anime but never watched it. haha I love the emperor's new groove, it was such a classic. Now I know what movie you're talking about and yeah I have seen clips and Tom Hanks is so very convincing, but he's a great actor to begin with so I'm not too surprised. ;)


	6. The girl who couldn't remember

**Aura's new look:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6zt7ll

**Aura's weapon; Harmonic Wave:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6crpql

**A/N:  
**Finally past chapter 5, haha that should be a milestone for me. I feel so bad that I haven't updated, but you know how school works—it takes away your life for about half the year, I swear.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**ȶ**

**The girl who couldn't remember**

Aura and Riku were outside of the cathedral when they met up with Quasimodo. The man explained how Frollo made him live inside the bell tower, but it was he who built walls around his heart. He looked over to Riku, and thanked the young boy for helping him see it.

"I was… speaking from… personal experience," Riku let out. Aura stared at the silver head and frowned a bit at the tough adventure that Riku had to endure. And it seemed that Phoebus noticed what Aura was thinking.

"I'd say you still keep a lot locked inside," he said. Esmeralda was a bit understanding, and let them know that there were some things that needed to be kept separate until they could figure it out themselves. She smiled at the boy and the three of them said their farewells before heading off. Aura was glad to have helped, even if it was something small, and it made her feel pretty good. She was still figuring out the tricks of having a heart, and sometimes it felt really annoying having one, but often times she liked the feelings she got. She turned around when she noticed a keyhole appear from the tower, and Riku lifted his Keyblade as he unlocked the world. Once he brought his Keyblade back, he jumped when he saw someone land effortlessly on the floor in front of him. Aura gasped as she came running up in front of Riku, and looked down at the girl bent down.

"mar—I mean, Mai, what are you doing here?" she asked. Riku grew a bit confused, and asked if she knew the girl. Aura lowered her eyes and crossed her arms. "Take a good look at her… you'll know who she is," she spoke.

Riku looked towards the girl, who finally got up. Riku's eyes nearly flew out of their sockets when he saw a girl _identical_ to Marie. He stumbled back a bit, but Aura held onto his shoulder as he stopped. He couldn't believe a girl like her was in the _dream_ world. Just what was going on?

"Oh, hey Aura, what's up?" she asked. Her voice was also identical to Marie's, and Riku was shaking his head back and forth, wondering what kind of sick joke this was. He looked over to Aura, who seemed pretty calm about it, but was still a bit annoyed or angry.

"I thought you wanted to come with me? You completely left my side," she retorted. Mai scratched the back of her head, and tilted it in confusion; she had no clue what Aura was talking about. "Don't you remember? You wanted to come along after knowing we'd be fighting monsters."

"I don't remember any of that," she replied. She gave a small smile and placed her hands behind her back. "We only just met, Aura."

"What? No…" Aura seemed dumbstruck with the responses she was getting, but Mai just shrugged her shoulders and looked over to Riku, the main focus of her attention. She asked who he was, and Aura escaped her thoughts as she looked over to the two of them. She looked over to Riku, who was still confused about everything. She sighed. "This is Riku; he's a friend of mine as well as Sora's and _Marie._"

"Sora? I know that name. A boy with spikey brown hair, right?" she asked. Aura and Riku raised their eyebrows in question, and Aura asked how she knew Sora, remembering how she didn't even know the boy before. Mai placed a finger to her lips and thought about it, but she really couldn't remember. "I met him somewhere. He's real sweet."

"Yeah, well, I'm trying to look for him. Where did you last see him?" Aura asked.

"Don't know."

Aura rubbed her temples, she was getting nowhere with this girl who so greatly resembled her former original self. Riku was staring at the girl, and was still a bit confused about it, but got the general idea that this girl _wasn't_ the actual Marie. He stuck out his hand for her to look at, and gave a small smile towards her. "It's nice to meet you, Mai," he announced.

"Oh, no it's really great to meet any friends of Sora," she smiled back. She shook Riku's hand, and she froze for a bit. There was something about the handshake that she felt oddly familiar with, but couldn't figure it out. It was almost like the meeting with Sora, where she could feel something familiar. She shook her head and ignored it. She had just met all of these people. She looked around and decided it was time for her to bail, so she smiled at both Aura and Riku. "I should go. I'll see you guys around!"

She ran from their sights with Aura attempting to chase after her, but Riku quickly grabbed her hand and stopped her. She looked behind and wondered what he was doing, but he shook his head and signaled her to not pursue. "I can sense something about her," he inspected.

"Like what? That she's got the memory of a goldfish?" Aura retorted again. Riku scoffed, and told her that there was something off about Mai. It was obvious that the girl wasn't the actual Marie, but there was something else about her, he just couldn't point it out. Aura raised her eyebrow in confusion, and asked Riku how he was able to figure these things out.

"I guess it's something I picked up along the way," he told her. She lowered her head and remembered about his past experiences and wondered what it was like being stuck in a place like he was. He smiled at her. "Don't worry; I'm sure we'll find out more about Mai. Maybe she'll help us find Marie."

"That'd be great."

**-x-**

Eli sat with a heavy heart as he took in what Stella told both him and Leah about her journey and her life inside something called Kingdom Hearts. Ryan also sat around to listen to his aunt, and he never realized just how much she went through in her life. Leah held her hands together as she tried to contain her tears, but she couldn't help but let out a few sniffles due to her sister and brother actually being alive.

"So, Trinity has been filled with darkness? And she's out causing mayhem?" Eli asked. Stella nodded her head, and explained that Trinity was now an evil person bent on gaining power along with Xehanort. Eli shook his head. "You left… like how mom left. Did she leave because of the same reason?"

"Our mother left because she felt a great danger coming in the future, so she set out and tried to figure a way to prevent it. She ended up finding her way into Kingdom Hearts, and from there she talked with me. And then, everything happened the way it did until now," Stella explained. Eli was finding it hard to believe, but with everything happening with his own son, and even with his niece, he had no choice _but_ to believe it. Stella sighed. "I left without saying a single word about any of this, but it was for the best. I always had hoped that I would come back and see you guys again. That hope was my very own daughter."

"About Marie… is she really… what you and your mother are?" Leah asked. Stella nodded, and told her that Marie would eventually have the ability to wield a Keyblade sooner or later. It was engraved in her fate. Leah frowned. "She's been through a lot. We lost her when she was only four years old, and we've felt horrible about it. But hearing you say that you watched over her from then puts a great relief on my shoulder."

"Listen Stella, since Marie is out looking for you, you have to look for her," Eli asserted. He crossed his arms, and Stella knew a lecture was about to happen. "She needs her mother, she needs guidance. She doesn't know anything about her family's history and she _deserves_ to know—even if it isn't all happy stuff."

"Marie is fine. She has a lot of people who love and care for her, and she's at that point that she needs to figure out _who_ she wants to be. She has unique powers from Kingdom Hearts that she needs to utilize if she wants to stop Xehanort and even Trinity." Stella crossed her own arms as a counter measure, and Leah stiffened at the mention of her older sister.

"Have we not loved Trinity enough? Or has her hate for all of us just grown too strong?" she asked. Eli looked towards the ground, and although he felt like it was his fault for turning her like this, he needed to be strong. Stella told them that her plans involved finding Trinity and Dante, who was taken by his oldest sister. "I can't believe Trinity would be this cruel to hurt the one person she truly cared for."

"She's being consumed by the darkness, and although we have much help from Riku, Sora and Marie, we still need more help," Stella announced. Ryan looked towards her, and she nodded her head as he excitedly made his way towards her side. "Which is why I am asking for your permission to let Ryan fight. He has more of an idea than you two about the problem at stake, and he wants to help fight."

"Out of the question. I'm not letting my only son fight to his death."

"But dad—"

"No."

Stella sighed and walked behind Ryan as she placed her hands on his shoulders. She looked at Eli and Leah, who didn't like the idea of having their son fight. She knew it was hard to take in, but Ryan wanted to help, and she needed all the help she could get. "Please, Eli. I will train Ryan myself with the best of my abilities as a Keyblade master—which I learned from both mother and my master. Also, this is something mom would want. She's been fighting the darkness all her life; I would like to see it go away so that she may be happy," she stated.

Eli took a deep breath in and closed his eyes, he never knew his mother as well as he should, but whatever he did know was enough to make him agree that she was altruistic and had a great sense of justice. Maybe doing this would make her proud, like Stella did with her own life. He took another deep breath in, and looked down towards Stella. "Alright. But please, take care of him. I can't imagine my son being killed by his own aunt," he agreed.

"Don't worry dad! I have Aunt Stella, Marie, Sora and Riku fighting with me, and they're the strongest people I know," he assured them. Eli walked up to his son and hugged him, with Leah coming up and hugging them as well. They had to let Ryan make his own choice now, since he was part of something bigger—something that could possibly involve all of humankind. Once they let go of the hug, Ryan quickly ran out the door to find Kairi, most likely to tell her of the news that he'd be fighting soon. Eli looked towards Stella, who gave a reassuring smile to him and his wife.

"He'll be fine. What I would like for you to be concerned with, is Dante's safety. I miss him so much and I don't know how he's doing," she confessed. Leah hugged her, and was very concerned for both of her siblings. She knew Stella would find Dante though, but she was still very worried for her sister, who seemed completely lost to the dark.

**-x-**

Aura and Riku kept walking around Notre Dame for a bit, but the brunette had too much on her mind. The most being about Marie—just where did the girl go? Why was she seeing a duplicate of her in a dream world? She was curious about Mai and what her connection to Marie was besides the identical appearances. She seemed so scatterbrained and forgetful, and she was still having trouble accepting that Mai forgot about their first meeting.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked as he stopped walking. He was a bit ahead of Aura, so he turned and faced the girl as he grew concerned.

"I just want to know what the deal is with Mai," she replied. She brought a finger to her chin and started to think about the look-a-like—what was her reasoning for being in the dream world? Was it possible that Marie was sleeping or something, perhaps something happened? "It makes me think that something bad happened to Marie," she continued.

"I really hope nothing bad happened to her," Riku replied as he looked away. Aura looked over to him and noticed an indifferent look on his face. She wondered what was up, and she poked his arm until he looked back at her.

"Something on your mind?" she asked.

"I'm just… a little envious of Sora and Marie," he replied reluctantly. It was obvious he didn't want to say it, but something told him that Aura would prod him about it. The girl in questioned looked at him a bit dumbfounded, she didn't think Riku was one to be envious.

"Why, cause they're together? It's not like you won't have anyone, you know," she replied as she placed her hands on her hips. Riku chuckled a bit; she didn't really get what he was envious about. He wanted someone who could understand him inside and out, someone who loved him unconditionally—someone on his level. He looked at Aura, and wondered what she thought about it.

"Me? I only _just_ got a heart, so I'm not really sure. I'm feeling a lot of things for a lot of people, and I don't really know how to… put them together," she told him. He was surprised she said that much, but maybe it was _because_ she had a heart that she was easily able to talk about her feelings.

"What about Roxas?" he asked. She stared up at the ceiling for a bit, but quickly looked back down towards Riku as she smiled.

"He's dear to me and I love him, but I'm not sure if I'm _in_ love," she replied. Riku let out a breath he didn't know he held in, and was pretty glad to hear what she thought of the blonde. She wasn't sure, but at least it wasn't a yes. Aura wasn't really sure about the men in her life since she was figuring other important things at the moment, but it was definitely sure that she thought about Roxas and Axel a lot of the times. Maybe not so much Roxas, but Axel seemed to pop up every so often and she really worried about the guy. He left her behind, and unlike Roxas he wasn't coming back. She felt her face tightened and felt like she was going to cry, so she stopped thinking about it. Riku noticed it though, and before he was about to ask, they were interrupted as they heard a gunshot near them.

Riku covered Aura and himself as they heard another gunshot, and quickly ran for cover. They looked around and noticed a tall woman with bright orange hair that was bobbed cut, and part of her bangs covered one of her bright lime green eyes that were incredibly bold looking. She wore a light purple tunic covered by a dark blue sleeveless jacket. She also wore black stockings with dark blue boots that reached just above her knees. She had thin black fingerless gloves that reached her forearm, and in each of her hand was a pistol. They were red and blue, and she was pointing them right at the teens hiding behind a couple of crates.

"Well, well, well. It looks like I get to finally meet _one_ of the potential Keyblade masters," she said as she kept pointing her gun at them. A low, sultry chuckle escaped her lips, and she lowered her eyes. "Too bad the road ends here."

She pointed her gun right at Riku and Aura gasped as she fired it. Without even thinking, Aura quickly took out her scythe and managed to deflect the bullet with her scythe's blade. She stumbled a bit at how strong the shot was, but she retained her balance after. Riku was a bit taken back, but quickly took out his Keyblade until Aura shook her head at him.

"Go on ahead! She obviously wants your head, so I'll buy you some time," she explained. Riku refused, but she was being persistent. The woman fired another shot that Aura blocked, albeit stumbling somewhat. She turned to Riku again and pleaded. "Go, I got this! We'll meet up soon I promise!"

He hesitantly nodded his head, taking one last glance at the woman before running off. He turned back again and saw Aura standing in front of the woman, who was smirking, and wanted to go back. He shook his head; he just really hoped Aura came out of this alive. Back at the scene, Aura glared at the woman as Mimi popped out from hiding, and they both took a fighting stance. The woman chuckled again as she flipped a stand of hair from her face. "Isn't this cute? Fighting for your boyfriend, are you now?" she teased.

"He's not my boyfriend, and you're not going anywhere with me around. Just who are you?" she asked. There was something familiar with the way the woman looked, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The woman continued laughing, and brought a hand to her mouth as she kept doing it.

"Then why are you fighting for him? As for my name, it's Trinity. Be a dear and remember it," she replied. Aura closed her eyes for a moment but quickly widened them when she realized who the woman was.

"You're Stella's sister-in-law, aren't you?" she asked. Trinity scoffed when she mentioned Stella, and the look of utter disgust on her face proved Aura right. "I didn't strike a nerve, did I?" she teased in return.

Trinity pointed her right pistol at the girl before her as a means of threatening, but Aura remained cool and smirked at the woman with her arms crossed. They stared at each other for a moment and Aura was starting to remind Trinity of a younger, _more annoying_ version of Stella. She slowly placed her pistol in its holster, and was feeling quite generous all of a sudden.

"You know what? I'll let you live. Call it woman's intuition, but I think something might just happen to you," she cackled. She created a portal much like the one Xehanort's Heartless and that young silver haired teen made before and walked through it, and all Aura could do was watch since she didn't sit well with those words.

"Something will happen to me…?" she repeated a loud. What did Trinity mean? She shook her head; she didn't want to think about it. She looked around the place and was glad to see that Riku actually listened to her, and Mimi jumped from her shoulder towards the floor. She started squeaking and Aura looked down at her. "What's wrong?"

Mimi started pointing towards a certain direction, and Aura wondered if she was going to lead them to Riku. She looked down again towards Mimi and asked, and the spirit just nodded her head. Aura shrugged her shoulders and started following Mimi, who kept bouncing the whole way through.

* * *

**Trinity:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6zzlvs

**Mai:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6zubpc

Chapter 6 done! I'm glad I'm getting some of these done, and the next world we meet is the wonderful world of Tron: Legacy! I really can't wait to draw Aura in her Tron outfit :D


	7. On the Grid

**Aura's weapon; Harmonic Wave:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6crpql

**Mai:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d6zubpc

**Aura on the Grid:  
**www**.**fav**.**me/d77jch8

**A/N:  
**We're going towards the world of Tron, and I am excited to write about it. Seriously, I loved the Tron world in KH2 I can't wait to see how this turns out!

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**ȶ**

**On the Grid **

Mai walked along the streets of Notre Dame and wondered about the people she recently had just met. Aura was an incredibly intimidating person, but she wasn't afraid of her—she was a brave girl who could take on anything. Yet, why did she feel so incomplete? There was something missing from her life but she didn't know what it was. Sometimes her life felt so mundane and so repetitive, like the days repeated themselves or something. She sighed as she looked towards the ground, and kicked a rock that was nearby. She watched it roll ahead, and when she saw a pair of red shoes she looked up to see Sora. He seemed really different—he had a frown and looked deep in thought. Mai wondered if something happened, and decided to don a smile for the brunette in front of her.

"Hey there!" she shouted as she started walking faster towards him. Sora looked up from the ground and towards Mai. He seemed surprised to see her in a place like Notre Dame, and wondered how she even came to this world.

"How'd you get here?" he asked. She tilted her head a bit at his question, and told him that she lived in Notre Dame. Sora was the one confused now, since he had sworn that she lived in Traverse Town. She shook her head, noting that she had never even heard of the place. This was confusing Sora more, since they had both been in that world. Mai decided to ignore it though; she placed her hands behind her back and started swinging back and forth.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she asked. Sora looked back down and had a slight frown again, but he quickly got rid of it and smiled at the fake brunette as he told her how he was helping out a couple of new friends. "Then why do you look so sad?" she probed.

"…Someone told me that… my heart's a prison," he replied as he placed a hand over his chest. She wondered what he meant by that and she wondered who this 'someone' was, but they obviously didn't sound very friendly if they were saying such negative stuff to the boy. She brought her hand up and patted his shoulder, and when he looked at her she had a comforting smile placed on her face.

"Don't think about it too much," she advised. "I've learned that if you keep thinking half-empty, you'll get nowhere… so I try to make the best of what I have."

Sora looked back towards the ground and began to think about what Mai said. It was weird. Even though this girl didn't know him she still found a way to make him feel better about things. She was right though; there was no point in worrying about it right now since he didn't even understand it himself. He looked over to the girl and noticed she seemed out of it. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"Just fine! But uh, I gotta go," she told him. She kept hearing a voice that sounded _exactly_ like her, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. She decided to leave Sora and explore it, but really, she wanted to stay with him. It was weird for her; there was something about Sora, even Aura and Riku, that felt familiar. She shook her head though, and said her farewell as she left Sora behind.

**-x-**

Aura sighed for the umpteenth time as Mimi squeaked from her shoulder. She was still walking in Notre Dame wondering how she would reach Riku. Maybe it _wasn't_ such a good idea of making him leave her behind, because now they had no way of communicating. She stopped walking when she heard footsteps behind her, and when she turned around no one was in sight. Instead, she felt such a strong presence of Marie that she was pushed back a bit. She felt a bit dizzy from it and shook her head as she held it, and when she got a clear vision of her surrounding she gasped when she saw Sora still standing around. She crossed her arms and started walking towards him, and when she was in hearing sight spoke.

"Well, well, well. It's nice seeing you here, Sora," she announced. The boy quickly turned his head when he heard the voice of his girlfriend's former Nobody. He gasped a bit at the sight, still shocked to see her out and about, not like Roxas who was inside Sora's heart. She gave a mischievous smirk and applied pressure to her right foot. "I was wondering when I'd get to you. I didn't think it'd be fair if I helped Riku all the time."

"Wow, you're actually there!" he exclaimed. He ran up to her and grabbed her cheek as he examined it, and she grew highly annoyed as she roughly slapped his hand away. He winced in pain as he grabbed his hand with the other, and was pretty glad that Aura was still pretty much the same. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to oversee the success of both yours and Riku's exam," she repeated master Yen Sid's words. Sora tilted his head in confusion, but she wasn't completely done. "Well that, and there's an anomaly that master Yen Sid wants me to check out."

"Why didn't he just send us to do it instead?" he asked.

"Because you two are busy _unlocking_ sleeping worlds with your _Key_blades, and since I'm not doing the exam but can still fight, he asked me," she explained. Sora was starting to get it, but he wondered why Aura didn't have the Keyblade. She didn't want to keep repeating herself, but decided to explain it again. "I'm no longer the Nobody of Marie, so I can't wield the Keyblade anymore. And somehow, I've gained my own heart."

"Really!? Your own heart? But how?" he asked again. She explained how Dante, Marie's father, might have had something to do with it. Riku explained to her that Dante used a bit of Kingdom Hearts on her, so that must have been the link to her having a heart.

"I'm still not sure though, I'd have to ask the man himself, but Riku said Xemnas stabbed him as he tried protecting Marie," she replied. She felt bad for Marie seeing her own father being stabbed, but he protected her.

"Some woman named Trinity took him after, so we don't know if he's still alive," he told her. She widened her eyes at the mention of Trinity, and told Sora about her encounter with the woman. He seemed surprised, but was weary at the fact that she was roaming around the worlds. "Think she's up to something?"

"Oh definitely, she might even be the anomaly. She's Marie's aunt… I don't know how she turned to the darkness," Aura mentioned. Sora placed a finger on his chin and remembered the letter Marie wrote him mentioning Trinity as her aunt. In truth, he was worried about it too, and wondered what went wrong with Trinity. Aura would figure that out once she tracked down the woman herself, but for now was stuck with Sora. "Let's go. I have no choice but to stick with you until I find this anomaly."

"Oh, okay," he replied, not really paying attention to Aura's snarky comments. He was curious if she knew anything on Marie. He asked her, but the brunette didn't have any positive answers.

"I don't know anything more on Marie than you and Riku do. I used to be able to feel what she felt, but the only thing that probably stayed was her presence. I felt it not too long ago, but that could have been Mai," she explained. Sora's eyes grew wide as he told her how he met Mai, but Aura already knew. "Riku and I saw her not too long ago, and she told us how she met you."

"So she can see all of us? She's not separated like how we are?" he asked. Aura didn't really know, since Mai was such a mystery. She was starting to reconsider her theory on Trinity being the anomaly—maybe there was more than one anomaly and Mai was one of them?

"Mai could very well be a link or connection, thing is, how?" she said as she placed a finger on her chin and began to think. Sora noticed that Aura possessed the same logical side that Marie had, and wondered if it was something Roxas liked about her. Of course, the blonde was inside his heart, so he couldn't speak to Aura. Sora was glad that she was here, even though they had their rough patches from before, and wondered if they could be good friends. Aura sighed, and stopped thinking about Mai. "Let's just go, there's nothing to do here and we need to press on."

Sora agreed. They started walking out towards the exit of Notre Dame, and Aura hoped that Riku would be alright.

**-x-**

In the same way that Aura traveled with Riku, she and Sora reached their next destination. Once they teleported out of the gateway and into the world, Sora opened his eyes and looked around. The place looked so familiar! He crossed his arms and continued to look around, but when he looked down he noticed his whole outfit changed.

"What? This outfit… Hey, I know where we are!" he exclaimed. He turned around and saw Aura looking down to her outfit. She was wearing a bodysuit of sorts with neon straps; it slanted down towards the bottom and reached longer on one leg than the other, and it only covered one pair of her leg. The other had a leg warmer that reached her higher thigh. Of course, she was wearing shorts underneath. She also wore arm warmers with neon lights spiraling around with fingerless gloves. She also wore boots that reached her ankles, and her whole outfit pretty much was black with neon lights around it. She had a huge choker that covered most of her chin, and a helmet that covered the back of her head. She didn't have the eyeglasses like Sora's helmet had though.

Needless to say, she didn't like the outfit _at all_. It showed too much skin for her liking, and she hated the strapped top part of the bodysuit. Granted, she could move quite swiftly, but it didn't compare to the design. She would have much rather wore a simple, fully covered bodysuit.

"Whoa! What is _that_?" Sora asked. Aura looked up and saw a giant machine type thing floating above them, and almost immediately saw Sora running after it. She rubbed her temple and sighed as she tried fixing the bodysuit, which didn't really help. She groaned and started walking towards the direction Sora went, and Mimi popped out from her helmet and started squeaking at the area around her. She seemed quite intrigued with the layout and Aura was glad at least one of them was having fun. They all continued down towards the hallway and found themselves out into an open space, and the flying machine that they saw before began to land. Sora stopped and stared in awe as it did, and he couldn't contain it. "Whoooa! Oh man!"

Sora started running up to it, but Aura stood on her guard as she saw four soldier-type men standing around the machine. They spotted Sora running up to them, and they quickly came to surround him. They asked what his handle was and called him 'program', and Aura didn't feel right.

"I, uh…don't have any handles, but the name's Sora!" he told them. One of them began to verify Sora, but when they couldn't recognize him they called him a stray. One of the guards placed a hand on Sora's shoulder and Aura grew more on edge. Another guard came in and grabbed the other shoulder, and the girl had enough. She stepped in front of the boy and slapped their hands away from his shoulder, but soon they started to grab hers. She shoved their hands away and quickly took out her scythe, but they were still aiming to reach her.

"Ah, ah, ah. One step closer and my scythe might want to play," she threatened. They stopped for a bit and Aura took the chance to grab Sora and run for it. She didn't know what she was up against and would rather much live to see another day than die like an idiot. Once they were pretty much out of sight, she placed her hands on her hips and groaned out in annoyance. "Great, now we're being chased."

"I wonder who they were," Sora questioned. Aura didn't really care about who they were, she just cared at the fact that they were probably going after them. They referred Sora as a program, and she wondered if it had anything to do with that computer person named Tron. She remembered him from Marie's memories, but that was about it.

"We gotta figure a way out of this, I'm not about to be program feed," she said. She looked around and checked if the coast was clear, and when it was she motioned Sora to follow her.

"You're so much different from Marie," he let out. She raised her eyebrow at his comment, but he explained as they were moving that Marie wasn't one to take charge or lead the way—she was more of a supporter. Aura knew that already, and she agreed with him. "I'm a lot of things that separate me from her, maybe a lot more now that I have my own heart, but I can tell she's changing."

"How?" Sora asked.

"Well for starters, she left the person she loves the most in order to bring her parents back, and find a way to stop Trinity—who seems more than likely to be a threat," Aura explained. Sora lowered his head at his mentioning, he knew it was hard on Marie for leaving, and she really didn't—but Aura was right, she had to go and do what was best. Instead of letting things go as they're planned, Marie wanted to find a way to stop it.

"When I become a Keyblade master, I'll look for her and help her become a Keyblade master if she wants. Then we'll stop all the evils together," he confessed. Aura smiled at him, and was starting to see how Riku got a little envious of their relationship.

"Good for you. I'm sure with everything happening—her parents being released from Kingdom Hearts and her aunt causing mayhem—she'll need all the support she can get and you're the best support she has," she replied. Sora seemed a bit surprised at her kind words, and it was a bit weird hearing them from her, but he was glad that Aura was around too. He knew Marie would be thrilled to see her up and running with her own heart. They kept walking around and avoiding the guards, but they came into an area where they found a single guard. He was completely covered in a black bodysuit with red neon lines all around his body, and he also wore a helmet to cover his face. He got into a fighting stance and took out two discs with red neon lights around it.

Sora quickly took out his Keyblade and Aura willed her scythe as they prepared for the fight, but from around the corner stood three figures dressed similar to Sora and Aura. Two males and one female to be exact, and the female—who had a bobbed cut colored black pointed out Sora's weapon as different.

"But it's something you programmed, right dad?" the second, younger looking male with blonde hair said. The older male looked lost in thought for a bit, but quickly snapped out of it as he looked at his son.

"Huh? No Sam… no I've never seen it," he replied. They all looked back at the three and watched as the man in neon red put his discs away. He stopped for a moment and quickly jumped over Sora and Aura as he ran from them. Sora wondered what was going on, but Aura was glad it was over with.

"Hey, that weapon. Can I see it?" the two teens turned around and the woman with black hair looked towards Sora's Keyblade. He didn't really know what do, but decided to show her. She bent down a bit and examined it, and was amazed by it. "This is just incredible. What a program—the weapon and the wielder."

"Program? Not me!" Sora exclaimed. "This is a Keyblade, and I'm Sora."

"My name is Aura."

"I'm Sam."

"So this is, like, Tron's world, right?" Sora asked. The older man seemed completely surprised and asked if he really knew Tron, and Sora grew a bit intimidated. "I, uh…yeah, I've met him… and stuff."

"Listen, that program you just fought _was_ Tron," the old man said. Sora gasped and couldn't believe it, while Aura wondered what happened to make him so hostile. "Tron used to be a good friend. Together, we created this place, the Grid. It was something, man… but then CLU staged a coup. I was exiled, and… Tron wound up getting derezzed. Or so I thought."

The man went on to say that CLU made him into a new program called Rinzler, and began to rant about programs and how it was so easy to mess with their codes to change their nature and memory. Sora couldn't believe it, and he thought what happened was just horrible, still… both Tron and the world they were in were pretty different. Even so, if Rinzler was really Tron, then Sora was going to change him back. The man was glad to hear it, and told them that if they were lucky, then CLU had a backup of Tron's source code.

"Basically, what you're saying is, if we get this 'source code' from CLU then we'd get the Tron you all know and love, correct?" Aura asked. The man seemed a bit put off by her dry attitude, but he agreed nonetheless. Sora was glad to hear it. He was about to leave, but the man stopped and asked where he was going.

"We're going after CLU," he replied. The man asked if he knew where he was but Sora didn't.

"What a strange User. You're nothing like Flynn or Sam," the woman with the bob cut said. Aura already knew that Sora was weird, and it wasn't surprising that other people thought so too. The woman looked at both teens, and nodded her head. "I'll show you two the way."

Sam and Flynn were surprised at her helping them, but she argued that if anything happened then they'd have to take care of Rinzler first. Sora was glad for any help, but Sam was still skeptic. Flynn assured him that they were people they could trust, and the blonde agreed reluctantly. He and Flynn kept moving forward, and Quorra told Sora and Aura where they needed to go. As soon as they started walking towards their destination Aura felt another strong presence of Marie and turned around, and like before, was pushed back a bit and stumbled. This time she wasn't so lucky, and fell to the floor as she passed out.

Sora turned around and noticed Aura was nowhere in sight, he called out her name and Quorra turned around and wondered where she went off to. She grew a bit suspicious about the teen, but Sora vouched for her. He was reminded of what Aura was meant to do in the sleeping world, and that was to oversee both Sora and Riku as they complete their mark of mastery. He turned to Quorra and smiled. "She's meeting up with another friend of mine, so I know she'll be fine."

* * *

I did such a horrible job at describing Aura's Grid outfit, so uh, be sure to type in the url to her drawing. As for Tron, ahhh, my Tron! You'll be safe soon, kind of… hopefully.

I wonder about Mai and Trinity, too. And when the heck are we going to interact with Axel!? I mean Lea.

**Shadow1n2:  
**Haha yeah he is! I can't wait to think of a weapon for him. :3 yeah, Marie and her doubtless will be a recurring theme in this story, but it'll get resolved soon. :D yeah, the biggest question is Aura and her love life haha. Roxas doesn't seem to be in the race, but there's still Axel/Lea ;)

Oooh already starting college? What program? And yeah I hear you; college is sooo much fun and everyone is pretty accepting, at least in the classes I take. Aww damn, no one likes it when their best friend causes drama, I've had that happen too and we're no longer friends though, but I've met a lot of amazing people in college, so I think that makes up for it.

Haha I will hopefully soon enough. There's a lot of stuff I need to watch omigod. I'm just going to save money and buy a ton of movies haha.

I don't think we have WarpTour here haha, but I don't know which bands I like. I'm a person who likes a lot of things and right now I'm getting into Country :P


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